Sudan conflict: RSF trying to cover up mass killings in el-Fasher, researchers say

A research team at Yale University has accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of attempting to conceal mass killings in El Fasher. According to the researchers, the RSF has been burying and burning bodies in an effort to cover up the atrocities.

The allegations follow previous international condemnation of the RSF, after reports surfaced of executions and crimes against humanity during their capture of El Fasher in October.

Analysis of satellite imagery by Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) indicates that the RSF likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies after seizing the city.

While the RSF has not issued a response to the report, its leader has previously acknowledged that some violations were committed by his fighters in El Fasher.

The HRL report stated that the RSF engaged in a systematic, multi-week campaign to destroy evidence of widespread mass killings, and that this pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing.

The RSF has been engaged in a conflict with Sudan's regular army since April 2023, when a power struggle between the two factions escalated into a brutal civil war. The United Nations has characterized the conflict as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

After an 18-month siege, the RSF captured El Fasher, marking a significant victory and pushing the army out of its last stronghold in the Darfur region. The UN was among many international bodies that accused the RSF of massacring civilians during the capture of El Fasher.

The HRL has been monitoring the situation in El Fasher for months, with its latest report contributing to a broader understanding of the violence experienced by the city's residents.

According to the HRL, fresh analysis of satellite imagery revealed clusters in multiple locations that changed in size in the weeks following the fall of El Fasher, suggesting ongoing efforts by the RSF to conceal evidence of massacres. The images also show over 80 clusters located outside the city, indicating that the RSF was killing people as they attempted to flee.

Satellite evidence from November suggests that civilian activity in the city has been limited since its capture, the researchers noted.

Following international criticism, RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo announced an investigation into what he described as violations committed by his soldiers during the capture of El Fasher. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. the group continues to deny widespread allegations that the killings in the city are ethnically motivated and part of a pattern of Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab populations.

The latest HRL report follows warnings from aid agencies regarding the low number of civilians who successfully fled El Fasher after the RSF takeover. The UN estimates that approximately 250,000 people remained trapped in the city, with fewer than half believed to have reached external camps for displaced persons.

The RSF has leveraged the seizure of El Fasher to strengthen its position in western Sudan, establishing a parallel government in Nyala, a city in Darfur. The Sudanese army continues to control most of the country, with ongoing fighting between the two groups.

It is estimated that more than 13 million people have been displaced since the war began in April 2023.