UN Documents Mass Atrocities in Sudanese City of Al Fashir
The United Nations has reported that more than 6,000 people were killed in just three days when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized control of the key Sudanese city of Al Fashir last October. This devastating offensive, which included widespread atrocities amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, was detailed in a comprehensive report from the UN Human Rights Office.
Systematic Violence and Ethnic Targeting
The 29-page UN report meticulously documented a range of horrific acts committed during the RSF's final push for Al Fashir between October 25 and 27, 2025. These atrocities included mass killings, summary executions, sexual violence, abductions for ransom, torture, ill-treatment, detention, and disappearances. In many instances, the attacks were specifically motivated by ethnicity, highlighting the targeted nature of the violence.
Sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, was apparently widespread during the Al Fashir offensive, with RSF fighters and their allied Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, deliberately targeting women and girls. The report noted that at least 4,400 people were killed inside the city during those three days, while more than 1,600 were killed as they attempted to flee the RSF rampage.
Pattern of Impunity and International Response
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk emphasized that the rights violations in Al Fashir underscore how persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence. The alleged atrocities in this provincial capital of North Darfur mirror a pattern of RSF conduct observed in other areas throughout its war against the Sudanese army, which began in April 2023.
The conflict, stemming from a power struggle between the two sides that led to open fighting in Khartoum and across Sudan, has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with parts of the nation pushed into famine. The International Criminal Court has confirmed it is investigating the atrocities as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Documented Evidence and Global Allegations
Disturbingly, the tribal militia turned paramilitary is known to document its own war crimes. Videos of RSF fighters lynching women, lashing emergency responders, and cheering over dead bodies have circulated online since the start of the conflict, providing grim evidence of the brutality.
International scrutiny has extended to alleged foreign involvement, with the United Arab Emirates accused of backing the RSF. An RSF intelligence officer appeared to confirm this support in an exclusive interview with Sky News, though the UAE's foreign ministry categorically rejected any claims of providing assistance to either warring party since the onset of the civil war.
The RSF and their allied militias overran Al Fashir, the Sudanese army's only remaining stronghold in Darfur, on October 26, 2025, after it had been under siege for more than 18 months. They then rampaged through the city and its surroundings, leaving a trail of destruction and death that the UN report has now brought to global attention.
