Sudanese groups accuse paramilitary RSF of ethnic cleansing in El-Fasher

• El-Fasher Resistance Committees say civilians ‘are subjected to what it calls ‘most heinous types of violence and ethnic cleansing’

ISTANBUL

Sudanese groups accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Monday of killing civilians based on their ethnicities and plundering health facilities in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan.

“In a heinous massacre committed by the RSF yesterday evening in El-Fasher – adding to their widespread crimes across El-Fasher and the Darfur region – the RSF killed unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds in what amounts to an act of ethnic cleansing,” the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement on US social media company X.

The medical group said dozens of people were killed by the RSF on Sunday, citing reports from its field teams.

“It remains difficult to access the affected areas due to the complete security collapse caused by the RSF,” the statement added.

Fighting raged on between the army and the rebel group on Sunday in the city, which serves as the humanitarian operations center for the five Darfur states.

“Innocent people from El-Fasher are being subjected to the most heinous types of violence and ethnic cleansing,” the civilian-led El-Fasher Resistance Committees said in a statement.

The committee added that fierce fighting was still raging on in the city’s western part.

It warned that army forces, allied fighters, and civilians are facing extremely dire humanitarian conditions in the city amid a continued siege by the RSF and lack of food, logistical, and air support.

El-Fasher has witnessed fierce fighting for weeks between the army and the RSF, following a multi-front assault by the paramilitary group, which has surrounded the city from five directions in an attempt to seize control of it due to its strategic importance.

The RSF has been besieging El-Fasher since May 10, 2024.

The doctors network also said that 47 civilians were killed, including nine women, inside their homes in RSF attacks in Bara city of North Kordofan in central Sudan.

It accused the rebel group of carrying out field executions, looting of property, and abductions of civilians “in an attempt to spread fear among residents.”

The group called on the international community to take immediate action to protect civilians in Sudan and to launch an international investigation to hold the RSF leaders accountable.

Emergency Lawyers, an independent Sudanese legal group, also accused the RSF of “committing a horrific massacre against civilians” in Bara city.

According to the group, hundreds of residents, mostly youngsters, were killed by the rebel group amid widespread acts of looting and vandalism targeting public and private property.

The legal group held the RSF fully responsible for these crimes and called on the international community and the UN to “take urgent action to stop the massacre and protect civilians.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the accusations.

The army and the RSF have been fighting since April 2023, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.