El-Fasher Survivors Report New Detentions and Ransoms as RSF Marks One Year

A woman identified as Hala returned to el-Fasher three weeks ago to retrieve personal documents and was issued a handwritten entry permit by Rapid Support Forces fighters. She told the campaign group Avaaz that the group detained men and demanded ransoms of up to $3,000, a practice that continues as the city marks one year under RSF control. Hala has since returned to the Tawila refugee camp and stated she will not return to the city.

The RSF launched its final offensive on October 26, 2025, ending a siege of more than 500 days. Monitoring groups using satellite imagery counted at least 6,000 dead in the first 72 hours of the assault. This week, volunteers in the North Kordofan town of Bara recovered more than 600 bodies from 200 mass graves, many of whom witnesses say were killed during that initial October offensive.

Researchers at Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab identified 150 clusters of objects consistent with human remains between October 26 and November 28, 2025. Of those sites, 57 vanished entirely within four weeks. The lab noted that twenty sites showed signs of burning. RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, announced an investigation into violations by his soldiers, but the group has maintained a communications blackout and barred independent human rights investigators from the city.

Survivors described specific abuses during the takeover, including the separation of men from women and children. Mohamed Hassan, an el-Fasher resident, said fighters executed men they judged to be army or Joint Forces soldiers. UN investigators documented mass killings at el-Fasher University, on exit roads, and at the berms the RSF constructed around the city. Close to 500 people were killed at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, which sheltered displaced families and medical staff.

The siege prior to the assault was marked by severe deprivation. A doctor who worked in an el-Fasher hospital for almost two years reported that generators ran only two hours a night and emergency surgeries were performed using phone flashlights. The World Food Programme stated that residents survived on animal fodder and food waste. In February, a UN fact-finding mission concluded that the RSF committed acts of genocide in el-Fasher, a finding echoed by the US government and Amnesty International.

Displacement continues to strain resources in the region. Tawila now hosts around 800,000 people, most from el-Fasher. Khadijah, an elderly woman from el-Geneina, said she lives under a tree with little food and no shelter. Mudathir Mohammed Diqourni of an el-Fasher resistance committee reported that RSF militias are destroying farms and killing farmers in South and Central Darfur.

The UN mission also found reasonable grounds to believe private companies and recruiters based in the UAE routed weapons through Chad, southeastern Libya, and Bosaso in Somalia. Mona Rishmawi, a member of the mission, said the supplies included weapons, drone-related equipment, and logistical help. The United States remains the UAE's top weapons supplier, and British weaponry has been found on Sudanese battlefields.