Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces Detain Fighters Amid Atrocity Allegations in el-Fasher

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan announced today they have detained several of their fighters following widespread reports and graphic video evidence of atrocities committed during the recent capture of el-Fasher, North Darfur.

Extremely graphic videos have emerged since the weekend, appearing to show mass executions and other crimes perpetrated by RSF forces. Among those detained is a man identified as “Abu Lulu,” who appears in multiple videos circulating online carrying out executions of unarmed individuals, according to reports. The French news agency AFP verified a clip showing Abu Lulu firing at unarmed men at close range and another depicting him among dozens of corpses and burned vehicles.

The RSF released a video purporting to show Abu Lulu incarcerated in a North Darfur prison. The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a human rights NGO, has identified six RSF fighters from the available footage, including Abu Lulu, and confirmed that “mass killings are taking place,” with casualties including both combatants and civilians. This conflict is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan, with millions facing starvation and displacement. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council yesterday that there were “credible reports of widespread executions,” along with reports of rapes, mutilations, and killings with impunity, stating, “We cannot hear the screams, but… the horror is continuing.”

El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State and the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the region, fell to the RSF after an 18-month siege. Arjan Hehenkamp, crisis lead for Sudan at the International Rescue Committee, described accounts from survivors of “dead bodies littering the road, wounded crying out for help, and people being executed.” He emphasized the need for international pressure on the RSF’s backers to establish safe conditions for civilians and facilitate their evacuation; learn more about the ongoing crisis here. The city remains cut off from communications, but reports from survivors reaching Tawila detail mass killings and brutal violence.

Officials say they are continuing to investigate the allegations and are working to establish the full extent of the atrocities committed in el-Fasher.