Many Sudanese families have fled fighting in El Fasher and are now living in a camp for displaced people in Zalingi in western Darfur.
This article is published in association with United Nations.
Paramilitary forces in Sudan unleashed “a wave of intense violence…shocking in its scale and brutality” during their final offensive to capture the besieged city of El Fasher last October, committing atrocities that amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, according to a report released on Friday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
“Persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, calling for credible investigations and accountability for perpetrators.
Sudan’s national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have been fighting each other for control of the country for almost three years. The new report details widespread atrocities committed during the RSF assault on the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur.
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The RSF and allied Arab militia carried out mass killings and summary executions, sexual violence, abductions for ransom, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances, pillage and the use of children in hostilities. Many attacks were directed against civilians and persons hors de combat based on ethnicity or perceived affiliation.
Documented atrocities
Based on hundreds of interviews with victims and witnesses in late 2025, OHCHR documented more than 6,000 killings in the first three days of the RSF offensive. The report however warns the overall death toll during the weeks-long offensive is “undoubtedly significantly higher”.
The report revealed that in one incident around 500 people were killed when RSF fighters opened fire using heavy weapons on a crowd of 1,000 sheltering at Al-Rashid dormitory in El Fasher University on 26 October. One of the witnesses reported seeing bodies thrown into the air “like a scene out of a horror movie”.
RSF fighters also carried out summary executions within El Fasher of civilians, targeting young boys and men under 50, accused of “collaboration” with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Joint Forces, often determined on the basis of their non-Arab ethnicity, such as the Zaghawa community.
Survivors and witnesses recounted patterns of rape and gang rape, abductions for ransom using sexual violence, and sexual assault during invasive body searches, with women and girls from the Zaghawa and other non-Arab communities at particular risk.
Possible crimes against humanity
According to the report, the violations at El Fasher mirror other RSF offensives during the war, such as at the Zamzam camp in April 2025. The “organized and sustained course of conduct” suggested a systematic attack against the civilian population in the Darfur region.
“The acts of violence knowingly committed as part of such an attack would amount to crimes against humanity”, OHCHR said.
Calls for justice
Mr. Türk urged parties to the conflict to end violations by forces under their command and called on States with influence to help prevent further atrocities, including by respecting the arms embargo and halting the supply of weapons.
He called on States to do everything possible to support local, regional, and international mediation efforts, to achieve a cessation of hostilities and a pathway towards inclusive civilian governance.
“In a protection crisis of this scale, human rights must remain central to efforts to achieve a durable resolution of the conflict,” he said.
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