Sudan's El Fasher City Faces Humanitarian Crisis Amid RSF Control

The Sudanese city of El Fasher resembles a massive crime scene, with large piles of bodies heaped throughout its streets as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, work to destroy evidence of their massacre.

Six weeks after the RSF seized the city, corpses have been gathered into scores of piles awaiting burial in mass graves or cremation in large pits. Analysis indicates that at least 60,000 people have been murdered in El Fasher, according to British MPs briefed on the situation.

Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons international development select committee, stated that this number is a low estimate. As many as 150,000 residents of El Fasher remain unaccounted for since the city fell to the RSF on October 26, after a brutal 500-day siege.

Nathaniel Raymond, director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, noted that the city is eerily empty, with once-bustling markets now desolate and livestock seemingly moved out. Experts indicate that El Fasher may represent the worst war crime in the ongoing Sudanese civil war, which has led to nearly 400,000 deaths and displaced almost 13 million people.

Despite RSF officials pledging to allow UN access for humanitarian aid and investigation, El Fasher remains sealed off from humanitarian organizations. Aid convoys are on standby, but there are no guarantees of safe passage.

Reports indicate staggering levels of malnutrition among those who escaped, with the city being declared in famine. A UN source stated that a security assessment is needed before planning any assistance, as there is currently no guarantee of safety for civilians or aid workers.

The RSF has also faced renewed calls for investigation regarding their attack on the Zamzam displacement camp earlier this year, where they targeted civilians and destroyed property. Human rights experts continue to stress the need for accountability in the face of these atrocities.