“Killed on Sight”: Survivors Allege Ethnic Killings, Extortion After RSF Seizure of El‑Fasher

Survivors describe targeted killings and abuse after El‑Fasher fell

As he fled El‑Fasher in terror, university student Hassan Osman told AFP he witnessed paramilitary fighters selecting civilians by tribe and skin colour and killing those they singled out. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting Sudan’s army since April 2023, captured the last military stronghold in western Darfur on 26 October. Since the takeover, multiple accounts have surfaced alleging mass killings, ethnic violence, abductions and sexual assaults.

AFP spoke with three survivors now sheltering in the nearby town of Tawila. Their testimonies, echoed by aid workers and rights monitors, describe streets strewn with bodies, targeted shootings, beatings and extortion based on family origin. An RSF officer stationed in El‑Fasher denied the accusations, calling them false.

Witness accounts

"They judge you by your tribe, your skin colour and where your family is from," Osman said. "If you belong to certain tribes, they don't ask any questions — you are killed on sight." He described the city’s streets as "filled with bodies": "Some were slaughtered. Some were eaten by dogs."

"They killed them right in front of my eyes, saying, 'We don't want you here',"

Amna Haroun, a member of the Zaghawa community, said RSF fighters shot her husband and eldest son in front of her. Hussein, who is from the Fur tribe, said he was detained for several days with roughly 200 men in Garni, 25 kilometres northwest of El‑Fasher, where detainees were beaten and subjected to racial insults.

Extortion and discrimination

Survivors also reported systematic extortion: fighters allegedly demanded hundreds of dollars for safe passage and set amounts according to tribal identity and family origin. Osman, who is Berti, said he escaped direct targeting because the RSF’s main enmity appeared directed at Zaghawa civilians, many of whom have aligned with the army.

Denials and international response

An RSF officer in El‑Fasher, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to speak to the media, denied claims of ethnic killings: "We did not kill civilians or kill anyone because they belong to a (certain) tribe. These are just false accusations." The RSF has issued orders telling its forces to "adhere strictly to the law, rules of conduct and military discipline during wartime" and to protect civilians.

United Nations experts and rights monitors, however, have reported widespread atrocities since the town's capture, including ethnically driven killings and abductions. UN specialists said they were "appalled by credible reports" of executions in El‑Fasher that could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, and noted similarities with earlier RSF operations in Zamzam camp and El‑Geneina.

Sylvain Penicaud of Médecins Sans Frontières, who has been speaking to civilians fleeing El‑Fasher in Tawila, said many interviewees reported being "targeted because of the colour of their skin." "For me, the most terrifying part was being hunted down while they were running for their lives — being attacked simply for being black," he said.

Context

Darfur is home to several non‑Arab ethnic groups — including the Zaghawa, Fur, Berti and Masalit — that have long faced attacks from Arab militias. The RSF traces its origins to the Janjaweed militias implicated in large‑scale atrocities in Darfur in the 2000s, when up to an estimated 300,000 people were killed and about 2.7 million displaced. The wider conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 12 million people and deepened a hunger crisis.

Note: All witness statements are attributed to interviews reported by AFP and to aid workers on the ground. Investigations by international bodies are ongoing.