An independent UN fact-finding mission has identified hallmarks of genocide in actions by Sudan’s Rapid Suppo Forces (RSF) during the siege and capture of Al Fashir, the capital of Noh Darfur.
Coordinated Ethnic Targeting and Mass Atrocities
The mission documents evidence of deliberate ethnic targeting against non-Arab communities, especially the Zaghawa and Fur, including mass killings, widespread sexual violence, toure, and conditions designed to destroy these groups. These events unfolded around Al Fashir in late October 2025.
RSF forces captured Al Fashir on October 26 after an 18-month siege that systematically starved, traumatized, and confined the population. An earlier UN Human Rights Office repo notes over 6,000 deaths in the initial days of the RSF assault.
Survivor Testimonies of Sexual Violence
Survivors recount RSF fighters raping women and girls aged 7 to 70, including pregnant women. One account describes a 12-year-old girl raped by three RSF fighters in front of her mother sholy after her father was killed trying to protect her.
In another incident, RSF commander Abu Lulu shot a pregnant woman seven times in the abdomen after she said she was seven months along, according to two survivors.
Mission Chair’s Assessment
“The scale, coordination, and public endorsement by senior RSF leadership indicate these crimes in and around Al Fashir were not random waime excesses,” stated Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the mission. He described the operations as “a planned and organized effo bearing the defining characteristics of genocide.”
Broader Conflict Context and US Response
The Al Fashir takeover stems from ongoing clashes between RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur, amid a civil war that erupted in April 2023.
The United States has sanctioned three RSF commanders over these findings. “We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared. He warned the conflict risks regional destabilization and oppounities for terrorist groups to expand, threatening U.S. interests.
