UN Documents 6,000 Deaths in RSF's Three-Day Assault on Sudan's El-Fasher
The United Nations Human Rights Office has released a damning report revealing that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed more than 6,000 people during a three-day offensive on the city of el-Fasher in late October. The assault, described as "shocking in its scale and brutality," represents one of the most violent episodes in Sudan's ongoing conflict.
Systematic Atrocities and Ethnic Targeting
According to the 29-page UN report, the RSF and their allied Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, overran el-Fasher on October 26 after an 18-month siege. The paramilitary group's capture of the Sudanese army's last stronghold in Darfur was marked by widespread atrocities that the UN says amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
The report detailed a horrifying range of violations:
- Mass killings and summary executions
- Sexual violence including rape and gang rape
- Abductions for ransom
- Torture and ill-treatment
- Detention and disappearances
In many cases, the attacks were specifically ethnicity-motivated, with RSF fighters targeting women and girls from the African Zaghawa non-Arab tribes over alleged links to the military.
Horrific Specific Incidents Documented
The UN Human Rights Office documented the killing of at least 4,400 people inside el-Fasher between October 25 and 27, while more than 1,600 others were killed while attempting to flee the RSF rampage. These figures were compiled from interviews with 140 victims and witnesses, corroborated by satellite imagery and video footage analysis.
One particularly horrific incident occurred on October 26 when RSF fighters opened fire with heavy weapons on approximately 1,000 people sheltering in the Rashid dormitory at el-Fasher University, killing around 500 individuals. A witness described bodies being thrown into the air, comparing the scene to "a horror movie."
In another case on the same day, approximately 600 people, including 50 children, were executed while taking shelter in university facilities. The report warns that the actual death toll from the week-long offensive is "undoubtedly significantly higher" than the documented figures.
Additional Casualties and Detention Facilities
The documented death toll does not include at least 460 people killed by the RSF on October 28 when they stormed the Saudi Maternity Hospital, according to the World Health Organization. Additionally, around 300 people died in RSF shelling and drone attacks between October 23 and 24 at the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people, located 2.5 kilometers northwest of el-Fasher.
The UN report also revealed that the RSF operated at least 10 detention facilities in el-Fasher, including the city's Children's Hospital which was converted into a detention center. Thousands of people remain missing and unaccounted for following the offensive.
Pattern of Violence and International Response
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who visited Sudan last month, stated that survivors of sexual violence recounted testimonies showing how the practice "was systematically used as a weapon of war." Türk emphasized there are "reasonable grounds" that the RSF and their allied Arab militias committed war crimes and that their acts also amount to crimes against humanity.
The pattern of the RSF offensive on el-Fasher mirrors previous attacks by the paramilitaries and their allies on the Zamzam camp for displaced people and on West Darfur's city of Geneina and the nearby town of Ardamata in 2023.
Türk called for holding those responsible—including commanders—accountable, warning that "persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence." The International Criminal Court has announced it is investigating atrocities in the conflict as war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the Biden administration has accused the RSF of carrying out genocide in the ongoing war.
The RSF did not respond to an emailed request for comment regarding the UN report. While RSF General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo has previously acknowledged abuses by his fighters, he has disputed the scale of atrocities documented by international organizations.
