Fears of large-scale atrocities grew Tuesday after Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces seized the key city of El-Fasher, after an 18-month siege amid reports of mass killings and the deaths of five Red Crescent volunteers in Kordofan.
The capture of El-Fasher, the historic heart of Darfur, has sparked fears of mass killings reminiscent of the region's darkest days.
After an 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment, the city is now under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), descendants of the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide two decades ago.
The paramilitary group, locked in a brutal war with the army since April 2023, launched a final assault on the city in recent days, seizing the army's last positions.
In the neighboring region of North Kordofan, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent said five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers had been killed in Bara on Monday, and that three others were missing after the RSF took control of the town on Saturday.
