Yale Report Uncovers RSF's Mass Killings and Evidence Destruction in El-Fasher

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been implicated in mass killings and subsequent efforts to conceal evidence in El-Fasher, according to a report by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL). The RSF, which seized control of El-Fasher in October 2025 after an 18-month siege, has faced international condemnation for alleged executions and crimes against humanity.

The HRL's analysis of satellite imagery indicates that the RSF likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies following their capture of the city. The report states that the RSF "engaged in a systematic multi-week campaign to destroy evidence of its widespread mass killings" and that "this pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing."

The RSF has not publicly responded to the HRL's findings. However, its leader, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, previously acknowledged that some violations were committed by his forces during the capture of El-Fasher. He declared an investigation into these violations but denied that the killings were ethnically motivated.

The conflict between the RSF and Sudan's regular army erupted into civil war in April 2023, leading to what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. The fall of El-Fasher marked a significant victory for the RSF, pushing the army out of its last stronghold in the Darfur region. The United Nations estimates that approximately 250,000 people remain trapped in the city, with less than half having reached external camps for displaced persons.

The HRL's report follows warnings from aid agencies about the low number of civilians who managed to flee El-Fasher after the RSF's seizure. Satellite imagery from November suggests limited civilian activity in the city since its capture, indicating that many residents may be dead, captured, or in hiding.

The RSF has used the seizure of El-Fasher to consolidate its power in western Sudan, establishing a parallel government in the city of Nyala. Meanwhile, Sudan's army continues to control most of the country, with ongoing fighting between the two groups. More than 13 million people are believed to have been displaced since the war began in April 2023.