AL-FASHIR, SUDAN — Civilians in the northern Sudanese city of al-Fashir have recounted horrifying scenes of violence and mass killings following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) takeover of the city on October 26, offering chilling details of indiscriminate attacks, drone strikes, and executions that accompanied the paramilitary group’s advance.
According to multiple witnesses who fled the city and spoke to Reuters, dozens of civilians were gunned down in the streets or run over by RSF vehicles after the group seized the main army base.
One survivor described how RSF trucks surrounded fleeing civilians, opening fire with machine guns before driving over the wounded and the elderly.
“Young people, the elderly, even children — they ran them over,” he said.
Another witness, identified as Mubarak, said fighters went door-to-door during the second day of the assault, executing residents on sight.
“Fifty or sixty people in a single street — they kill them, bang, bang, bang,” he said, speaking from the nearby town of al-Dabba. He added that drone strikes and heavy gunfire made any movement in the streets deadly.
Satellite images analysed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab revealed evidence consistent with mass killings — including open bodies, earth disturbances suggesting mass graves, and movements of large vehicles possibly used to remove corpses or loot property.
These findings align with eyewitness accounts and raise new fears of war crimes being committed in the Darfur region.
The United Nations and multiple humanitarian organisations have since raised alarm over reports of summary executions, sexual violence, and ethnically targeted killings in al-Fashir.
U.N. human rights officials say thousands remain trapped and traumatised inside parts of the city, cut off from food and medical aid, with ongoing reports of abuses.
The RSF has denied several of the allegations, insisting that reports have been “exaggerated by opponents” and that it has launched investigations into alleged misconduct.
However, humanitarian agencies say the paramilitary’s takeover has displaced tens of thousands, sparking a deepening humanitarian emergency. Aid groups report acute food shortages, looting of hospitals, and pockets of famine emerging across North Darfur.
Survivors describe harrowing escapes through bombed-out streets and checkpoints manned by armed fighters. Some said men disappeared during searches, while others spoke of kidnappings for ransom.
One woman, Umm Jumaa, who fled with her four grandchildren, said she had lost contact with two of her sons who served in the army.
“Those who didn’t die, they would say, ‘Finish them off, finish them off,’” she recounted tearfully from a displacement camp in al-Dabba.
On Thursday, the RSF announced that it had accepted a U.S.- and Arab-backed proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire and expressed willingness to resume peace talks.
But despite the statement, fighting and drone strikes have continued in several parts of Sudan, eyewitnesses told Reuters — underscoring doubts over the paramilitary’s commitment to peace.
Multiple ceasefire efforts during Sudan’s two-and-a-half-year conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have repeatedly collapsed, leaving civilians bearing the brunt of relentless violence.
International observers and human rights groups are now urging immediate, unhindered access to al-Fashir to document atrocities, assist survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Humanitarian organisations stress that timely access is critical, as thousands of wounded and traumatised civilians remain without food, shelter, or medical care amid ongoing insecurity.
