Sudan's RSF in execution spree after El-Fasher takeover including woman MP

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have carried out over a dozen field executions in El-Fasher in recent days, local media reported, with one of those killed being Siham Hassan, a former member of parliament.

The RSF announced on Sunday evening that they had taken control of El-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur state in western Sudan, following a siege that lasted over a year. El-Fasher was the last major city in Darfur under Sudanese army control.

Former MP and rights activist Hassan was one of those executed late on Sunday, according to various reports.

She was known for running a community kitchen to feed the hungry in El-Fasher, and for being outspoken on women’s issues.

Tributes have poured in for Hassan, with activists and commentators saying that the Justice and Liberation Party lawmaker was the youngest to serve in Sudan’s parliament, and noted she had stayed in the besieged city to help her community despite the threat of attacks from a militia known to have committed gross rights abuses.

Siham Hassan a former member of Sudan’s Parliament who ran community Kitchen’s to feed the hungry and starving in her home city of Al Fashir was executed by RSF militiamen earlier today.

انالله واناالیه راجعون pic.twitter.com/2BA7UBNCHo

— Mohanad (@MohanadElbalal) October 26, 2025

"The martyrdom of the beloved Siham Hassan for her people is weightier than Mt Kilimanjaro. She's part of a radiant envoy of martyrs, forge of women - mothers, daughters, and sisters of resistance and defiance. On her blood, her people shall be liberated," one person wrote on X, to mourn her death.

"The late figure was known for her patriotism and strongly defending causes in Sudan and Darfur, as well as her activism in supporting women and youth," another post read.

The Sudanese Doctors Network also revealed on Monday that the RSF had looted medical facilities and pharmacies.

The network called the killings a "heinous massacre" and said “the RSF killed unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds in an act of ethnic cleansing. Reports from our field teams indicate that the number of victims exceeds dozens".

The group further said that there has been difficulty in accessing some areas due to the breakdown in security and the spread of chaos.

On Saturday, the network condemned the deliberate shelling of El-Fasher Teaching Hospital, which killed a nurse and wounded three medical staff.

"The targeting of hospitals and healthcare facilities constitutes a war crime and a clear violation of international humanitarian law," the group said.

Meanwhile, Darfur governor Minni Minawi urged for the safety and security of civilians, saying: "We demand the protection of civilians, disclosure of the fate of the displaced and an independent investigation into the violations and massacres committed by the RSF militia out in public view."

Since the start of the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF in April 2023, El-Fasher has been a major flashpoint and military stronghold.

Despite the UN Security Council previously issuing a resolution in 2024 to call for the end of the siege on Al-Fasher, the RSF has continued to launch attacks on the area.

At least 2,500 civilians were displaced from El-Fasher on Sunday alone, according to activists.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that residents in El-Fasher were being stalked by drones and that around 30 people were dying every day from the violence, hunger, and the spread of disease.

"With the Rapid Support Forces perpetrating attacks against civilians in El Fasher, them and the Sudanese Armed Forces obstructing much needed aid in many parts of the country, the global community cannot wash its hands from its responsibility to alleviate the suffering in Sudan," Mohamed Osman, a Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement on X in August.

The humanitarian situation in El-Fasher remains dire, particularly as 260,000 civilians - half of them children - remain trapped and cut off from aid and food supplies.

Communications also remain cut across the city, leaving El-Fasher in a "media blackout", the Sudanese Journalists' Syndicate warned.