Satellite, Videos Suggest Mass Killings in El-Fasher

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized El-Fasher after weeks of fighting, giving the RSF control over much of Darfur and leaving more than a quarter‑million people in the city with limited access to food, water and medical care. Satellite imagery analyzed by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab and commercial providers shows reddish earth discoloration and clusters consistent with human bodies in Daraja Oula and around Al Saudi Hospital, with patterns analysts say are consistent with house‑to‑house clearance and piles of bodies at a hospital. Multiple videos and eyewitness accounts have circulated reportedly showing RSF fighters executing prisoners, including footage attributed to a senior RSF officer known as Issa Abu Lulu; the RSF says it will investigate the allegations. Independent verification is hampered by a telecommunications blackout and restricted access for investigators. Estimates of the conflict’s toll vary widely — from tens of thousands to some reports exceeding 150,000 killed — with millions displaced and large parts of Darfur under RSF control, raising fears of ethnically targeted violence and possible mass killings. UN Sudan coordinator Denise Brown, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the UN’s top humanitarian official have voiced deep alarm and urged that those responsible be held to account.