🔗 Share this article

Fighters chuckle as they move on the bed of a transport truck, speeding by a line of multiple corpses and heading towards the descending African sunset.

"Observe all this accomplishment. Observe this instance of ethnic cleansing," a fighter exclaims.

The fighter grins as he turns the camera on his person and his associate militiamen, their Rapid Support Forces badges on display: "These people are all going to perish in this manner."

The men are celebrating a mass killing that relief organizations suspect claimed the lives of more than two thousand civilians in the Sudanese urban center of el-Fasher during October.

A Community Isolated from the Outside

Having held the urban area under encirclement for almost an extended period, from August the RSF moved to strengthen its position and prevent access for the surviving inhabitants.

Satellite images reveal that troops began to construct a immense berm - a built-up earthen wall - around the edges of el-Fasher, closing access routes and blocking aid.

During the encirclement escalated, multiple people were slain in an paramilitary strike on a place of worship on mid-September, while the UN said 53 additional were slain in drone and heavy weapon bombardments on a displacement camp in fall.

Graphic Footage Depicts Unarmed Individuals Gunned Down

At dawn on late October the RSF overwhelmed the final government strongholds and took control of the main headquarters in the urban area, the command center of the Military Unit, as the military pulled back.

Perhaps the most graphic footage to emerge and examined depicted the aftermath of a massacre at a university building on the western side of the city, where dozens corpses were observed scattered throughout the area.

An older person clad in a white tunic sat isolated surrounded by the bodies. The man turned to glance as a fighter armed with a rifle moved descending the steps in the direction of the individual. lifting his firearm, the gunman discharged a single round at the victim, who dropped to the surface still.

"For what reason is this individual yet alive," one fighter shouted. "Execute him."

Orbital photography captured on October 26th seemed to substantiate that shootings were also conducted on the thoroughfares of el-Fasher, based on a analysis published by the university analysis team.

A key observer who provided testimony stated he had witnessed "multiple of our family members being killed - they were collected in one place and all murdered."

RSF Leaders Attempt to Carry Out Damage Control

In the days that followed the massacre, RSF commander admitted that his fighters had committed "wrongdoings" and stated the incidents would be looked into.

Included among detained was after a analysis detailing his executions. Deliberately choreographed and edited footage posted on the militia's official messaging account reveal the commander being taken into a prison room at a detention facility on the perimeter of the city.

Simultaneously, the militia and associated digital accounts started seeking to reframe the story.

Posts depicting its combatants providing supplies to residents were shared by some users, while the paramilitary's media office released several videos claiming to display the humane management of army prisoners of war.

In spite of the online effort being deployed by the paramilitary, their actions in al-Fashir have generated international condemnation.