The United Nations-mandated fact-finding mission has revealed that Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed multiple crimes against humanity during the siege of al-Fashir in the western Darfur region.
According to the mission’s report, ‘A War of Atrocities’, the RSF has engaged in large-scale killings, sexual and gender-based violence, looting, and destruction of livelihoods, which in some cases amount to persecution and extermination.
The report, based on over 200 interviews with survivors of violence, video material, and submissions from civil organizations, highlights the dire situation in al-Fashir, where hundreds of thousands of people are living under siege.
The RSF and its allies have allegedly used starvation as a method of warfare, depriving civilians of essential relief items like food and medicine.
This latest finding strengthens earlier reports of atrocities committed by both the RSF and Sudan’s army in the broader civil war, now in its third year.
The conflict began in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces.
Neither side has responded to the allegations, with both parties dismissing past accusations and accusing each other of carrying out abuses.