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Extreme Viewer Discretion Advised: Many countries and notable US lawmakers are demanding action after Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed at least 1,500 civilians (including patients and medical staff) in three days during their takeover of a major city.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Back in April 2023, a civil war erupted in Sudan following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), once allied groups that had a falling out over plans to integrate the RSF into the SAF. The SAF, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, claims it is defending the country’s sovereignty and constitutional order, while the RSF, under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, argues it is fighting to dismantle military dominance and establish civilian rule. Both sides have been widely accused of committing atrocities, including ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians. The conflict has also drawn in regional actors, with Sudan’s government recently accusing the United Arab Emirates of covertly supporting the RSF by supplying arms and hiring foreign mercenaries (which the UAE has denied). Other neighboring countries have been suspected of backing different factions to serve their own strategic interests, further fueling the instability.
What’s going on now: According to multiple eyewitnesses, aid workers, and human rights groups, the massacre in El Fasher unfolded with horrifying precision. Fighters from the RSF stormed the Saudi Maternity Hospital (the last operational hospital in the city) where they “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside,” according to the Sudan Doctors Network. Victims included more than 460 patients, health workers, and family members. Graphic videos appear to show RSF fighters executing wounded civilians, including one man shot at point-blank range while slumped against a blood-covered wall. Eyewitnesses described RSF forces going house to house, shooting residents, including women, children, and people with disabilities, many of whom were unable to flee. Others were tortured, detained, or sexually assaulted in makeshift holding areas. “It was like a killing field,” one survivor told the Associated Press. “Bodies everywhere and people bleeding, and no one to help them.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement saying it was “appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and companions at Al Saudi Hospital in El Fasher.” WHO also confirmed the abduction of several health workers, including doctors and nurses. Beyond the hospital massacre, Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) released satellite imagery showing clusters of body-sized objects and blood-colored ground near the hospital and other RSF-controlled areas (evidence the lab said proved there were “coordinated mass killings).”
The fall of El Fasher, the last Sudanese Armed Forces stronghold in Darfur, has forced more than 36,000 people to flee. Many arrived dehydrated, wounded, or orphaned. Doctors Without Borders reported treating numerous gunshot victims and receiving “a huge number of severely malnourished and traumatized children.” UNICEF called the situation “an absolute catastrophe,” with representative Sheldon Yett stating: “Now it’s hell on Earth with lots of guns.”
In response, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan all issued public condemnations. France called the killings “barbaric and unacceptable,” while Germany warned of “clear violations of international humanitarian law” and demanded accountability.
In Washington, US lawmakers across party lines echoed the urgency for international action. “The horrors in Darfur’s El Fasher were no accident — they were the RSF’s plan all along,” said Sen. Jim Risch, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The RSF has waged terror and committed unspeakable atrocities, genocide among them, against the Sudanese people.” Risch called for the RSF to be formally designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Sen. Jeanne Shaheen added, “The UAE has been an irresponsible player who has contributed to one of the worst humanitarian crises that we have on the planet right now,” referencing allegations of Emirati support for the RSF.
