Sudan hits the Headlines!

 

Sudan hits the Headlines--again!      A paramilitary group has been accused of war crimes in Sudan after it attacked a hospital, killing 460

A senior Sudanese official has accused a paramilitary group of war crimes in the country’s west.

Last week, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over the city of el-Fasher, with the UN reporting the group attacked a hospital, killing 460 people.

At a press conference on Sunday (local time), Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Imadeldin Mustafa Adawi, confirmed the country’s government will not negotiate with the RSF to end almost three years of civil war.

Background

In April 2023, civil war broke out in Sudan between two rival military factions: the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

In October 2024, the UN accused the RSF of “major” attacks on civilians, including “rampant sexual violence” against women and girls.

In April 2025, the SAF regained control of much of the capital city, Khartoum, nearly two years after it was taken by the paramilitary group.

The RSF controls much of the country’s west, including Darfur.

el-Fasher

el-Fasher is the capital city of the North Darfur state. As of late October, it had a civilian population of roughly 260,000 people.

Until last week, el-Fasher was the only major city in the region not under RSF control, which had been trying to capture it for 18 months.

The city has been cut off from humanitarian aid since February 2025, meaning civilians were trapped inside with little food, water, or medicine, while also being regularly attacked.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported the RSF had killed at least 460 people on el-Fasher’s only functioning hospital.

The strike was part of a broader rampage in the city, which resulted in the RSF taking control.

UN official Tom Fletcher said there were “credible reports of widespread executions” once the RSF entered el-Fasher.

The total death toll is unknown, but Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) analysis of satellite imagery shows “evidence of alleged mass killings” by the RSF.

Ethnic cleansing

HRL’s report said that following the RSF takeover, “el-Fasher appears to be in a systematic and intentional process of ethnic cleansing of... Indigenous non-Arab communities through forced displacement and summary execution.”

According to the Red Cross’ dictionary of international law, ethnic cleansing is the process of removing members of an ethnic or religious group from an area “by violent or terror-inspiring means”.

HRL said the RSF’s actions “may be consistent with war crimes... and may rise to the level of genocide.”

The HRL’s report is the latest in a series of allegations that the RSF is committing serious human rights violations in Sudan.

In January, the U.S. Government said the RSF was murdering “men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis,” and raping women and girls “from certain ethnic groups”.

In July, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameen Khan told the UN Security Council she and her team believe war crimes are being committed in Sudan, and that evidence is actively being gathered to support future cases.

Then, in August, the Sudan Doctors Network accused the RSF of targeting and killing people in Darfur based on their ethnicity.

It alleged an RSF massacre of 13 people was part of an “ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide”.

On Sunday, Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Imadeldin Mustafa Adawi, called on other governments to list the RSF as a terrorist organisation.

Adawi has accused the RSF of carrying out war crimes. He also claims the group is backed by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has denied this.

Response

The majority of civilians fleeing el-Fasher have headed to the nearby city of Tawila. The UN reports that around 650,000 displaced people are already sheltering there.

UNICEF said an estimated 130,000 children in the city are “at a high risk of grave rights violations, with reports of abduction, killing and maiming, and sexual violence.”

WHO has also called for an end to the hostilities in el-Fasher and across Sudan, to allow for the “safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access.“

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.   Report : Courtesy of  The Daily Aus .( Online Newsletter for the young )