RSF chief promises investigation as anger mounts over el-Fasher killings
The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced the launch of an investigation into what he called abuses committed by his soldiers during al-Fasher’s capture.
The announcement by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, came after increasing reports of mass civilian killings after the RSF captured the city in the Darfur region on Sunday.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a meeting on Sudan, which is entering the third year of civil war between the army and paramilitary fighters.
The RSF leader spoke following international outrage over reports of mass killings in al-Fasher, documented in social media videos, apparently by paramilitary fighters.
Hemedti stated that he was sorry for the disaster that had befallen the people of al-Fasher and acknowledged that his forces had committed violations and that this would now be investigated by a committee coming to the city.
However, observers noted that similar promises made in the past in response to accusations of a massacre in the Darfuri city of al-Geneina in 2023 and allegations of atrocities during the group’s control of the central Gezira province were never fulfilled.
UN World Health Organization (WHO) says it is appalled and deeply shocked More than 460 civilians, including patients and their attendants, were reportedly shot dead at the last partially functioning hospital in Al-Fasher.
RSF denies widespread allegations that the killings in Al-Fasher were ethnically motivated and that Arab paramilitaries targeted non-Arab populations.
Activists have also stepped up demands for international pressure on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is accused of providing military support to the RSF.
The UAE denies this, despite the evidence presented in UN reports.
Al-Fasher was the army’s last stronghold in the West Darfur region and was captured by the RSF after an 18-month siege of starvation and heavy bombardment.
The capture of Al-Fasher reinforces the geographical divide in the country, with the RSF now controlling western Sudan and most of neighboring Kordofan to the south, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, and central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals were allies who came to power together in a coup in 2021, but have fallen out over an internationally backed plan to move towards civilian rule.
