New Satellite Evidence Shows Mass Graves Following Paramilitary Massacre in Sudanese City

Latest Developments

• Graves Located Near 2 Hospitals: New satellite images from North Darfur suggest an ongoing massacre in the city of el-Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary organization. The images analyzed by the U.S.-based Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale University appear to show mass graves that were dug up and later covered over. One was located at a mosque north of the Saudi hospital and another near a former children’s hospital, which is now used by the RSF as a prison. On October 29, 460 patients and their companions were killed by RSF forces at the Saudi hospital. On November 6, the RSF announced that it had accepted a U.S.- and Arab-brokered proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire and was open to further talks to end the conflict, but U.S. officials have not confirmed that a final deal has been struck.
• Non-Arab Ethnic Groups Targeted: Accounts and videos of atrocities in el-Fasher, specifically against non-Arab ethnic groups, have spread since the RSF’s takeover of the city on October 26 following a bloody 18-month siege. Two sources from the RSF told the Sudan War Monitor that “the massacre was systematically carried out on the basis of ethnic motives” and that the “forces had planned in advance to target certain groups within the city.” The RSF reportedly “went from house to house, beating and shooting people, including women and children.”
• Fighting Spreads: Fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese army has spread to North Kordofan, where the United Nations reported that a drone strike on a funeral procession in the capital city of el-Obeid on November 3 killed 40 civilians and injured dozens of others. The report did not state which group was responsible for the attack, although local media blamed the RSF. On the same day, the RSF targeted a children’s hospital in the North Darfur town of Karnoi, killing at least seven people. Since the start of the conflict in April 2023, more than 150,000 people died across Sudan, and more than 12 million have been displaced.

FDD Expert Response

“It’s been almost a year since the State Department determined that the RSF is committing genocide in Sudan. These harrowing images from Yale University’s Humanitarian Lab demonstrate that the genocide continues unabated and largely ignored by the international community. The testimony of refugees from el-Fasher also leaves no doubt that ethnically targeted killings are the order of the day.” — Clifford D. May, Founder and President

“The news of war crimes taking place in el-Fasher is shocking but not surprising. The Sudanese RSF has an appalling record of human rights abuses and extreme brutality. Arab Sudanese targeting of non-Arab Darfuri communities reached the level of genocide between 2003 and 2005, and neither Sudan nor Darfur has known real peace or stability since.” — Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Fellow

FDD Background and Analysis

“Islamic State redoubles call for jihad in Sudan, urges foreign fighters to migrate,” by Caleb Weiss

“RSF seizes El Fasher, forcing Sudanese Armed Forces withdrawal,” by Mariam Wahba and Samuel Ben-Ur

“Reports of Atrocities as RSF Paramilitary Forces Gain Control of Last Government Stronghold in Darfur,” FDD Flash Brief

“Paramilitary Group Massacres Hundreds in Overlooked Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan,” FDD Flash Brief