Mass killings reported after paramilitaries seize Sudanese city, witnesses say

Hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters executed or captured as a major city captured by paramilitaries.

Activists and analysts have long warned of revenge killings based on ethnicity by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) if they seized al-Fashir - the last stronghold of the Sudanese military in Darfur.

The UN human rights office shared other accounts on Friday, estimating hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters may have been executed. Such killings are considered war crimes.

The RSF, whose victory in al-Fashir marks a milestone in Sudan's two-and-a-half-year civil war, has denied such abuses - saying the accounts have been manufactured by its enemies and making counter-accusations against them.

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Hundreds of people fleeing violence in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, have arrived in Sudan’s Northern State after a “difficult and dangerous journey,” a local medical group said Saturday.

The displaced families escaped “massacres” carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher and arrived in the Al-Dabba area, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a post on the US social media company X.

It warned that the new arrivals are living in “dire humanitarian conditions,” with inadequate shelter, severe shortages of food and clean water, and a lack of basic health services, particularly affecting children, women, and the elderly.

“These families are now facing severe living challenges that exceed the capacity of the host communities to cope with,” the network said, warning that the number of displaced is expected to rise sharply in the coming days as the deterioration of the situation in Darfur continues.

Displaced Sudanese gather and sit in makeshift tents after fleeing Al-Fashir city in Darfur, in Tawila, Sudan, October 29, 2025, in this still image taken from a Reuters' video. PHOTO: REUTERS

It appealed to local authorities and humanitarian groups “inside and outside Sudan” to urgently provide medical aid, food, shelter, and psychological support to prevent “a total collapse of the humanitarian situation.”

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday that more than 62,000 people have been displaced from El-Fasher within four days of the Rapid RSF taking control of the city.

El-Fasher fell under the control of RSF earlier this week after a months-long siege. Rights groups have accused the paramilitary group of committing mass killings, detaining people, and attacking hospitals.

Sudan has been ravaged by a civil war between the army and the RSF since April 2023, causing thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions of people.

'Apocalyptic situation'

The foreign ministers of the UK, Germany, and Jordan on Saturday jointly called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, following reports of atrocities and human rights abuses in the country’s Darfur region.

Speaking at a security summit in the Bahraini capital of Manama, the ministers condemned what they described as “horrifying” violence committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of El-Fasher.

The statement comes as the UN warns that the RSF has rampaged through El-Fasher, killing hundreds of civilians and carrying out ethnically targeted attacks.

A member of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, which has been fighting the nation's army since last April. PHOTO: REUTERS

Officials say more than 450 people were killed in a hospital, and there are reports of mass executions and sexual violence.

The RSF has denied killing people at the hospital. However, satellite images, videos shared on social media, and accounts from those who escaped the city suggest widespread violence and devastation.

At the Manama Dialogue security summit, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis and devastating conflict” that the international community has failed to address.

“Just as a combination of leadership and international cooperation has made progress in Gaza, it is currently badly failing to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the devastating conflict in Sudan, because the reports from Darfur in recent days have truly horrifying atrocities,” Cooper said.

"Mass executions, starvation, and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war, with women and children bearing the brunt of the largest humanitarian crisis in the 21st century. For too long, this terrible conflict has been neglected, while suffering has simply increased.

“No amount of aid can resolve a crisis of this magnitude until the guns fall silent,” she added.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul echoed Cooper’s warning, describing the situation in Sudan as “absolutely an apocalyptic situation.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sudan has not received “the attention it deserves,” calling the crisis “of inhumane proportions.”

“We’ve got to stop that,” he said.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that numerous regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed about 20,000 people and displaced over 15 million as refugees and internally displaced persons, according to UN and local reports.