Survivors Return to El-Fasher to Find Fear and Erased Evidence

Hala, a woman from North Darfur who uses a pseudonym for safety, returned to el-Fasher three weeks ago from the Tawila refugee camp. She went to retrieve her birth certificate and identification papers. On her arrival, Rapid Support Forces fighters questioned her and issued a handwritten entry permit that included her name, a signature, and a date. The next day, soldiers spoke to her in the street using abusive language. Hala said she escaped physical attack only because other civilians were present. She has now returned to Tawila and intends to stay there.

The RSF captured el-Fasher on October 26, 2025, ending a siege that lasted more than 500 days. This event marked the start of what Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab described as the largest single massacre of the war. The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces began in April 2023. Researchers compared the speed and scale of the killing to the Rwandan genocide. The United Arab Emirates, which is accused of supporting the RSF, continues to deny its involvement.

Survivors report widespread rapes, executions, and the forced separation of families. Mohamed Hassan, a resident of el-Fasher, stated that fighters targeted men they believed were army or Joint Forces soldiers. Approximately 500 people died at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, where displaced families and medical staff had sheltered. United Nations investigators documented mass killings at el-Fasher University, on exit roads, and at the defensive berms surrounding the city.

About 260,000 people remained inside el-Fasher when the assault began. Monitoring groups used satellite imagery to count at least 6,000 deaths in the first 72 hours. The RSF has maintained a communications blackout and blocked human rights investigators from entering. This week, 200 mass graves were discovered in the North Kordofan town of Bara. Volunteers have recovered more than 600 bodies, mostly civilians killed during the October offensive.

Yale researchers identified 150 clusters of objects consistent with human remains between October 26 and November 28, 2025. Twenty of these clusters showed signs of burning, while 57 disappeared entirely within four weeks. RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, announced an investigation into violations by his troops. A UN team entered the city under close supervision in December and described it as a crime scene. One in six people screened suffered from severe acute malnutrition.

During the siege, a doctor who worked in an el-Fasher hospital for nearly two years reported that generators ran for only two hours per night. Emergency surgeries were performed using phone flashlights. Antibiotics and surgical gauze were exhausted. The World Food Programme reported that residents survived on animal fodder and food waste. In February, a UN fact-finding mission concluded that the RSF committed acts of genocide in el-Fasher. The US government and Amnesty International reached similar findings regarding Darfur.

Tawila now hosts approximately 800,000 people, most of them from el-Fasher. Survivors say the RSF still detains fleeing men and demands ransoms of up to $3,000. Khadijah, an elderly woman from el-Geneina, lives under a tree on a farm with minimal food and no shelter. Mudathir Mohammed Diqourni, of an el-Fasher resistance committee, said RSF militias are destroying farms and killing farmers in South and Central Darfur.

A UN mission found reasonable grounds to believe that private companies and recruiters based in the UAE routed weapons through Chad, southeastern Libya, and Bosaso in Somalia. Mona Rishmawi, a member of the mission, stated the supplies included weapons, drone-related equipment, logistical help, and personnel. The United States remains the UAE's top weapons supplier, and British weaponry has been found on Sudanese battlefields.