CAIRO (AP) — Paramilitary fighters in vehicles, on camels and on foot rampaged through the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur on Tuesday, killing and detaining hundreds of people in the latest atrocity of a war that has raged in Sudan for over 31 months.
The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, overran the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in what the United Nations chief called a “terrible escalation” in the conflict.
Medical groups reported that RSF fighters killed dozens of civilians and detained hundreds of others since taking over the military’s base in the city on Sunday.
The army said it withdrew from the city hoping to save civilians from further violence after more than a year of RSF attacks on the city. Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the army retreated because of “the systemic destruction, and the systemic killing of civilians” by the RSF.
The war started in exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
Attacks on civilians, summary executions reported
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it received credible reports of atrocities including summary executions, attacks on civilians along escape routes and house-to-house raids. Sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, was also reported in the city, it said.
Graphic footage flooded social media showing fighters in RSF uniforms shooting and beating people as they attempted to flee. Other footage showed troops on vehicles and camels roaming city streets.
Many were shown detained, with one video showing a group of young people wearing the Sudanese Red Crescent vests being held and beaten by an armed fighter.
“The reports emerging from El Fasher are horrifying,” said Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Tigere Chagutah. He urged the RSF to stop its attacks on civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the city.
“The people of El Fasher have already endured the RSF’s brutal 18-month long siege of the city,” he said. “All those responsible for the ongoing atrocities must be held individually accountable.”
Medical workers abducted
The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking the war, said RSF fighters abducted five medical workers, including four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse from the city.
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab published a report Tuesday relying on satellite imagery that said RSF forces were “conducting alleged mass killings” after seizing El Fasher.
Using imagery from Airbus taken Monday, the lab pointed out a series of scenes in El Fasher’s Daraja Oula neighborhood. They included what appeared to be gun-mounted trucks, known as “technicals,” in the streets in formations that appeared like roadblocks.
“Imagery analysis shows objects consistent with the size of human bodies on the ground near RSF vehicles, including at least five instances of reddish earth discoloration,” the report said.
The Associated Press separately accessed and analyzed the satellite images from Airbus, matching those details highlighted by the Humanitarian Research Lab.
While the AP was not able to conclusively determine what the objects on the ground or the red splotches seen in the dirt were, it raises new concerns about the RSF’s conduct after taking El Fasher.
The U.N.’s human rights office said it feared the RSF was “carrying out atrocities, including summary executions” in El Fasher. It cited social media footage circulating the internet showing fighters purportedly gunning down unarmed men.
No comment from RSF on atrocity allegations
The RSF has not addressed allegations against it. The paramilitary force grew out of the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias that carried out genocide during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. The Biden administration in one of its last acts declared the RSF and its allies were committing genocide in the current war.
The fall of El Fasher to the RSF could usher in , more than a decade after South Sudan’s creation after years of fighting between the central government and rebels.
In comments in Malaysia on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the fall of El Fasher marked a “terrible escalation” in the war and called for ceasing foreign military support to the warring parties.
“The problem is not only the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, but also the growing external interference that undermines prospects for a ceasefire and a political solution,” he was quoted as saying by a U.N. spokesman.
Guterres didn’t name a specific country, but the Sudanese government and rights groups have repeatedly accused the United Arab Emirates of being involved in the war by , a claim denied by the Gulf country.
Red Cross volunteers killed in Bara
Also on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced that five of its volunteers were killed in the city of Bara, in Kordofan state, while distributing food. It said three other volunteers were missing. The group said the team were dressed in uniform with the Red Crescent logo.
“Any attack on humanitarian teams is unacceptable,” the group said in a statement. “We strongly reiterate our call for unwavering respect for the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems and the crucial humanitarian services they represent.”
The war has killed over 40,000 people, according to the U.N, but the actual toll is highly likely much higher. The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with part of the country, including the El Fasher area, plunged into famine. Over 14 million people have fled their homes. ___
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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