El Fasher massacre

Not to be confused with other massacres in El Fasher, such as massacres which were committed during the War in Darfur and the Darfur genocide of 2003–2005.

See also: Darfur genocide (2023–present)

El Fasher massacre
Part of the war crimes during the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), the second Darfur genocide and the aftermath of the siege of El Fasher
Left to right: Possible executed bodies Possible body bags on the location of a former children's hospital, which has been used as a detention centre by the RSF, on 27 October
El Fasher Location within Sudan
Location	13°37′50″N 25°21′0″E El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan
Date	26 October 2025 (2025-10-26) – present (1 month, 1 week and 2 days)
Target	Non-Arab ethnicities including the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa and Berti; also prisoners of war of the SAF
Attack type	Mass killing, ethnic cleansing, genocidal massacre, genocidal rape
Deaths	60,000+ (per International Development Committee) up to 68,000+ (per Yale HRL) 460+ in Saudi maternity hospital
Perpetrator	Government of Peace and Unity Rapid Support Forces Janjaweed
Motive	Arab supremacy, Arabization
Convicted	Abu Lulu and other soldiers (by RSF, reportedly)

A genocidal massacre in the city of El Fasher in western Sudan has led to thousands of civilians being executed or murdered since 26 October 2025. The massacre was carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group after they captured the city, which was the last stronghold in Darfur of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese government. The Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) estimated that following the initial 26 October massacre, the "250,000 remaining civilians [had] been killed by RSF, died, been displaced, or persist[ed] in hiding".

As of 14 November 2025, a communications blackout in the city is limiting information and the massacre is continuing. The Yale HRL estimated that the figures of those killed are "undercounted" and Sky News claimed that analysts estimate "tens of thousands" of individuals killed. El Fasher's Resistance Committee stated that many of those living in El Fasher's core were killed.

The speed and intensity of the killings in the immediate aftermath of the fall of El Fasher has been compared to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide. According to Sudanese journalist and author Nesrine Malik, "The RSF of today is the Janjaweed of yesteryear, except this time armed to the teeth, supported by powerful external allies, and with a renewed appetite to purge once more non-Arab populations it has been hostile to for decades". On 16 November 2025, Sudan researcher Eric Reeves described the RSF as a "genocidal militia force" and the massacre as a "genocidal slaughter".

Background

Main articles: Sudanese civil war (2023–present) and Siege of El Fasher

El Fasher is a city that serves as the capital of the North Darfur state of Sudan. Due to refugees from various conflicts, notably the War in Darfur, the population of the city has varied. In 2001 the city had a population of approximately 178,500 people. By 2009 it was estimated at 500,000.

Since 2023, a civil war has been raging across Sudan. It began as a result of a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Muhammad Dagalo, better known by the mononym Hemedti. The RSF was created by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in 2013, formed from existing Janjaweed militias in Darfur, a region of western Sudan. The Janjaweed were a major perpetrator of the Darfur genocide against the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups.

El Fasher came under siege, and the first major battle there took place in April 2023. Over the next two years, there were several clashes between armed forces. In May 2024 it was estimated the city had a population of 1.5 million, of whom at least 800,000 were internally displaced people sheltering there. Throughout the siege a large number of people fled to various refugee camps, such as the Tawila refugee camp and the Zamzam Refugee Camp, the latter of which was destroyed by the RSF, killing up to 2,000 people and forcing an exodus of 400,000 refugees to Tawila. In October 2025, El Fasher remained the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur. According to estimates, during September and October 2025 more than 260,000 civilians were trapped in the city because of the siege. During this period, reports documented a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, with UN convoys even being struck by drone attacks.

Following intensified RSF attacks on the city, the SAF retreated late on 27 October 2025, resulting in the fall of the city. On 28 October, al-Burhan confirmed that the SAF had withdrawn from the city. In the ensuing raid on the city, which the RSF described as "combing operation on a large-scale," the group claimed that it has an "utmost commitment" to protect civilians, of whom approximately 260,000 remained in the city at the time its capture.

Motives

RSF fighters are suspected to have justified the massacre by branding those who remained in the city after the SAF left as collaborators or spies. According to testimony provided to Amnesty International, despite being asked if they were soldiers or civilians, residents of the city were told:

In El Fasher, there are no civilians, everybody is a soldier.

— Alleged statement from RSF Soldier before executing four civilians

Funding and military support

According to Sudan researcher Eric Reeves, United Arab Emirates (UAE) funds are used to "pay RSF officers' salaries, to bribe those who might interdict weapons shipments, even to provide an extremely elaborate social media and public relations campaign out of Dubai". Reeves also sees the UAE as a major supplier of weapons to the RSF. He stated that UAE cargo planes are used to provide weapons to the RSF via intermediary countries, citing advanced, long-range Chinese howitzers as a key weapon in the siege of El Fasher supplied to the RSF by the UAE.

Massacre

Once the RSF took hold of the city on 27 October, multiple sources, including local organizations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the United Nations, and independent monitoring groups, reported a wave of executions targeting unarmed civilians. Confusion ensued as the fall of defenses was followed by a communications blackout. According to reports, more than 2,000 people had been executed, many of them women, children, and the elderly. This included house to house raids during which civilians were killed, committed by RSF fighters on foot, camels, or vehicles.

Civilians were killed in and around shelters for displaced families, hospitals, and homes. Witnesses and medical staff reported that drones, artillery, guns and whips were used in attacks that deliberately targeted civilians, in addition to firing indiscriminately. Drones were seen chasing and targeting civilians. Videos show militants shooting civilians at point-blank range and mutilating them, including shattering their skulls. They have also reportedly engaged in sexual violence against women and girls. Other sources reported people being burned alive, extrajudicial executions, and planned attacks on certain ethnic groups. Witnesses recounted RSF fighters in trucks driving over and crushing civilians, sometimes after noticing they were still alive. Some said they saw 40 to 60 or more civilians killed in a singular location at a time. RSF fighters were also seen looting buildings.

A perpetrator of the massacre performs a V sign with victims about to be executed.

Witnesses and aid workers told Reuters that men were separated from women, tortured, and executed on the grounds that they declined forced conscription into the RSF. They have additionally reported the executions of POWs. Images and videos posted to social media by RSF soldiers shows them posing with the dead bodies of civilians, often doing a "V for Victory" sign. Testimonies from civilians which managed to escape the city recounted RSF soldiers threatening those captures for hours on end, often laughing as they committed atrocities. On 31 October, one of four witnesses recounted camel-riding fighters reportedly having brought hundreds of hostages from El Fasher to a nearby reservoir before executing them.

On 26 October, it was estimated that many of the 260,000 people were still captured within the city. Residents attempted to escape, with some following fleeing or deserting SAF soldiers. Refugees who managed to escape reported being ambushed by RSF soldiers, particularly near the RSF perimeter berm. RSF militants perpetrated violent searches, disappearances of men particularly, and kidnappings, typically for ransom. Many of those who managed to escape and other family members of those still captured within the city reportedly received phone calls from RSF soldiers through their relatives' phones demanding ransom money in exchange for their release, ranging from $20 to $20,000 USD. It is believed that many have already "desperately" wired money to the RSF. To pressure relatives to send soldiers money, RSF militants executed family members on video calls, often one at a time to encourage saving those which remained alive.

Saudi maternity hospital massacre

Not to be confused with the January 2025 Saudi Hospital attack.

Within the first day of the massacre, the Saudi maternity hospital, the last functioning hospital in the city, saw a sharp influx of wounded. Resources ran so low, doctor testimony said mosquito nets were used in place of gauze. Some of those injured included pregnant women whose stomachs were torn open by projectiles and shrapnel.

Fearing execution, doctors began to escape the hospital, being forced to leave severely injured patients. On 29 October, at least 460 to 500 doctors, patients and companions of the patients were reportedly killed at Saudi Maternity Hospital. The World Health Organization later confirmed the killings, accusing the RSF of taking four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse hostage and demanding ransoms of more than $150,000 USD for their release. Videos from inside the hospital showed soldiers killing scores of civilians. The Sudan Doctors Union said that approximately 1,200 other civilians were killed in other medical facilities.

Following the hospital's looting and destruction, women from El Fasher reported that "pregnant women [gave] birth in the streets."

Mass graves

Satellite images and open source evidence support reports of mass graves and widespread destruction, showing human sized "objects" and what are believed to be body bags and pools of blood. On 4 November, more reports emerged of mass graves being dug. An investigator from the Yale Humanitarian Research Laboratory (HRL) said more people could have died in the 10 days since the massacre began than the 68,000 people confirmed to have been killed during the entire length of the Gaza war, adding "that's not hyperbole".

Starvation

Main article: Famine in Sudan (2024–present)

See also: Integrated Food Security Phase Classification § Sudan

The RSF restricted food inflow into the city, causing starvation. On 29 October, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 86% of households in Tawila, the closest and largest destination for internally displaced persons (IDP), had "borderline" or "poor" food consumption status. On 3 November, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reinforced confirmation that a famine was occurring in southwestern areas of Sudan. El Fasher and the southern town of Kadugli, also under siege by the RSF, were classified as Phase 5 "with reasonable evidence."

Sexual violence

Women and girls were subject to sexual violence by RSF soldiers, as corroborated by witnesses which saw women being taken being out of sight before being assaulted and heard them cry for help. Some minors were reported to be as young as 14 years old. Testimonies from escapees recounted their clothes being ripped or cut to shreds before being raped by soldiers. These attacks were particularly violent, with soldiers cutting, beating, and assaulting women and girls. Some sexual violence was so brutal that victims became sick soon after. In a weakened state, their health deteriorated and some later died, even after being treated in clinics in adjacent cities and towns.

Some women which were separated from men were forced to walk to makeshift shelters located over 10km away from El Fasher. RSF soldiers stripped and searched women before detaining them in the shelters. Victims recounted RSF soldiers raping them numerous times per day.

Refugee crisis

Further information: Sudanese refugee crisis and Refugees of Sudan

Even prior to the beginning of the massacre, refugees which attempted to flee the city reported paying ransom, encountering RSF patrols, and other violence. Before the fall of El Fasher, Tawila was already a landing ground for many IDPs, with Gurni as the first stop along the journey. However, it was largely incapable of tending to its refugee camps as services collapsed and violence grew. The Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) reported that between October 18 and 27, 3,038 IDPs had fled from El-Fasher to Tawila, with many of them arriving to the town's resources already running thin. This problem was compounded by IDPs arriving with what the SAPA described as "nothing but their lives." The European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) estimated that Tawila's population grew from approximately 238,000 to 576,000 between March and September 2025. Médecins Sans Frontières reported that of arrivals to the Tawila refugee camp during the week prior to the fall of city, 5% of children were acutely malnourished, and 26% were severely malnourished. The SAPA warned that Sudan's looming rainy season could constrain aid efforts and intensify the spread of diseases like cholera.

Timeline

October 26–November 1

The UN estimated that more than 26,000 people had fled the city in a couple days after the beginning of the massacre, mostly towards the neighboring town of Tawila, where refugee camps were established. The SAPA recorded 3,000 IDP arrivals on 26 October, 26,030 on 27 October, and 7,455 on 28 October. Many of the children which arrived were separated or unaccompanied, believing their parents to have gone missing, been detained, or killed. Several centers for displaced people, including the Dar al-Arqam displacement center at Omdurman Islamic University, were attacked. Reports further claim that in a single incident, more than 60 people were killed, including 22 women and 17 children.

By October 29, the IOM revised earlier figures from ECHO, reporting that between March and September 2025, Tawila's IDP population had grown from 238,084 to 652,079, which amounted to 37% of all IDPs across North Darfur and 7% across all of Sudan. 57% of all individuals in all of Tawila were children under 18 years old. IOM found that 74% of displaced households in Tawila were living in informal settlements or gathering sites. Of both formal and informal settlement, 43% were damaged or collapsed. Much of this damage was to roofs, which made shelters prone to leaking when it rained, which were problems the IOM believed would be exacerbated due to growing winter conditions. Other shelter issues included significant overcrowding, which contributed to limited or poor sleeping areas and lack of storage space. 70% of households had required healthcare within the last three months, although half did not receive it.

November 2–November 9

By 4 November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suspected that "many others" were still "trapped in the city without food, water and medical care." It stated that it was providing assistance to refugees which had arrived in Tawila. Furthermore, it had household-item aid kits prepared for distribution in Nyala, awaiting safe access into El Fasher, which was still blockaded at the time. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported the same day that over 445,000 had been displaced across Sudan in 2025 alone. It claimed that the situation seemed uncertain for refugees with "aid funding sharply declining and essential services stretched to breaking point."

Being present in Sudan since April 2023, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Logistics Officer for Sudan, Shoshat Osman, noted on 7 November that aid delivery often had "a very narrow window." He added that "we [UNICEF] succeed some days, and other days we don't"—the success rate of which was compounded by the difficulty to remain "neutral and impartial." Its Director of Emergency Operations, Lucia Elmi, expressed the life-saving capability of delivering "therapeutic food, safe water and essential medicines and health services," especially amidst worsening food insecurity causing famine; access to bed nets, safe water, and vaccines; and other health services which can slow of halt prevalent diseases like cholera and malaria.

November 10–November 16

By 11 November, UN Women's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Anna Mutavati, said that the refugee crisis worsened as fighting around the city continued. Some also fled to the neighboring towns of Korma and Malit, where Mutavati categorized the aid presence as "scarce." Tens of thousands of arrivals have led to overcrowding in refugee camps. The IOM said that ground assaults and heavy shelling in the weeks since the massacre began displaced approximately 90,000. Tens of thousand remained trapped within the city, with the IOM reporting that hospitals, markets, and water systems collapsed. The IOM claimed that the humanitarian situation was "on the brink of collapse," with aid resources depleted despite local organizations starting emergency projects to provide "shelter kits, protection assistance, and health services," and improve "access to water, sanitation, and hygiene."

By 14 November, the UNHCR estimated the refugee figures was nearing 100,000, with Tawila as the largest destination for incoming civilians. By November 16, the SAPA underscores that key urgent needs were not being met. This included shelter, food, water, medical care, and protection. In addition, conflict in and around El Fasher made it difficult for aid groups to access those in need or coordinate between one another.

November 17–November 23

By November 22, UNICEF recorded the arrival of 354 children unaccompanied by any immediate family members to the refugee camps in Tawila, being able to reunite 84 children with their families. UNICEF noted that this success could be attributed, in part, to the presence of numerous aid organizations in Tawila.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) recorded upwards of 400 children unaccompanied by any immediate family members, with many being in the care of "extended relatives, neighbors and strangers who didn’t want to leave them alone in the desert or el-Fasher [El Fasher]." According to the NRC's advocacy manager, Mathilde Vu, "many children arrived with clear signs of hunger," noting their skinny, bony, and dehydrated appearance.

November 24–November 30

By November 27, the NRC registered upwards of 15,000 new arrivals in Tawila since the beginning of the massacre. The NRC noted that of these arrivals, an average of 200 or more children were registered every day. One teacher with the NRC noted children showed "signs of acute trauma" as they struggled with speaking, had nightmares, and described hours of traumatic, chaotic travel fleeing the city.

On November 28, a victim from the massacre staying in a UNHCR refugee camp in Chad told Al Jazeera that he was digging holes to make money. Despite having watched his father die in El Fasher before fleeing, in addition to his uncle and brother going missing, the victim said the money was necessary to provide for his "big family." The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Denise Brown, which travelled to Darfur with Thomas Fletcher, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, continued to express that aid organizations still did not "have enough of anything." Brown argued countries and donors' lack of funding created the "yawning shortfall," especially considering the UN, as "one of the best funded humanitarian responses in the world," was only at 28% of the funding it needed. Brown said that while money was not the only resource needed, especially considering the need for psychological support for women who had suffered sexual violence, it was "surely going to help our humanitarian response." For aid to successfully be delivered, Brown, like Fletcher, argued that aid organizations needed safe, non-militarized access.

On November 30, witnesses recounted needing to leave behind children which were abducted or the dead bodies of relatives which died along the way. They arrived to refugee camps virtually empty-handed as RSF fighters as checkpoints stripped individuals of their money, phones, and clothes; ransom collected through video calls occurred numerous times at each of those checkpoints.

Further killings

Many could not escape as the city was surrounded by RSF's 56-kilometer blockade, which was used during the siege. Aid groups said there were no safe routes for civilians. Videos show scores of massacred civilians around the sand berm and inside its ditches. Witnesses recounted dead bodies being left out unburied for two to three days or more.

Civilians which managed to escape the perimeter, sometimes an estimated 20km out from the city, were stopped by RSF soldiers in vehicles. Testimonies recounted RSF militants having killed the elderly, sick, and wounded, noting that they had lamented needing to bring them in the back of their pickup trucks and choosing to execute them instead. People who attempted to flee were reportedly kidnapped with ransoms demanded for release. For weeks, dozens of civilians coming from El Fasher and arriving in Tawila were seriously wounded.

Investigations

Academic research

On 22 November 2025, the Yale HRL published analyses of satellite data of El Fasher. The researchers found activities consistent with the burning of human bodies at locations consistent with RSF mass killings. They found signs of five traditional burial mounds and two possible mounds during 26–28 October 2025. In seven markets that were either major El Fasher markets or near locations with large civilian populations, they found no signs of activity in November satellite images. The researchers concluded from the likely disposal of bodies by burning, the lack of traditional burials, and the lack of market activity that the 250,000 civilians who remained after 26 October had been "killed by RSF, died, been displaced, or persist[ed] in hiding".

Legal

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said in early November 2025 that it was working to "preserve and collect relevant evidence for its use in future prosecutions" as part of its Darfur investigation and that reported atrocities, "if substantiated, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute". Earlier, on 6 October 2025, the ICC convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb) of 27 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2003 during the Darfur genocide.

Reactions and response

Experts, advocacy groups, and humanitarian organizations

Survivors, advocacy group representatives from NGO Protection Approaches and the IDP Humanitarian Network, and the United Nations (UN) said the attacks in El Fasher were done with the clear aim of ethnic cleansing and were part of a wider pattern of RSF violence across Darfur. Executive Director at the Yale HRL, Nathaniel Raymond, compared the massacre to the first 24 hours of the Rwandan genocide. Other experts have argued the massacres could be considered war crimes. De Waal said the massacre was "very similar to what they [the RSF] did in Geneina [in early 2023] and elsewhere" during the early 2000s. He and other experts had long warned that the RSF would perpetrate ethnic violence against indigenous African groups, and has done so for 20 years prior—especially following the takeover of El Fasher.

Experts have criticized the international community, particularly the United States, of sanctioning belligerents but failing to apply effective pressure on countries financing and arming them. Amnesty International urged the African Union (AU), UN, regional actors, and other international actors to "act swiftly to prevent further civilian suffering." In light of the "horrifying" massacres, it called for all parties responsible for the atrocities to be held "individually accountable." In a press release regarding the massacre, it raised concerns about the United Kingdom's complicity in arms sales to the UAE, which have been reported in the hands of the RSF. Despite the United Nations Security Council having received material indicated that the UAE supplied UK-produced arms to the RSF, the UK went on to send similar arms to the UAE months later. Other experts also criticized the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Disney for their business partnerships with the UAE.

Domestic

Rapid Support Forces

The RSF have denied massacres, stating that the videos were "propaganda" and "fake". Although Hemedti admitted that "abuses" had been committed by the RSF, as of 30 November 2025, the RSF has rejected accusation of systemic abuses against civilians. He apologized for potential civilian deaths and said that the RSF will protect civilians, despite saying that Sudan would be united "through peace or war." RSF leadership claimed to have undertaken an independent investigations into the attack, supposedly resulting in the arrest of several fighters. It also said that it helped civilians leave the city, published videos handing out aid, and called on aid organizations to help those which remained. Hemedti called on fighters to do the same in addition to releasing any detainees.

A high-level RSF commander claimed that the SAF fueled "media exaggeration" regarding the raid "to cover up for their defeat and loss of al-Fashir [El Fasher]." He said that "there were no killings as has been claimed" despite Reuters having verified at least three videos of RSF-uniform soldiers executing unarmed captives as of 31 October. Dr Ibrahim Mukhayer, an advisor to Hemediti, clarified that "looting, killings, sexual violence, or mistreatment of civilians—do not reflect our directives" and that any fighter caught doing so would be "held fully accountable." Victims recounted, however, that RSF soldiers were more brutal when their commanding officers were not around, likely to avoid accountability.

RSF Brigadier General al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, commonly known as Abu Lulu, boasted in unconfirmed videos on 27 October of having killed over 2,000 people. He was seen executing a civilian in another video. After videos featuring Abu Lulu became viral, RSF media subsequently posted images of him under arrest. The arrest has been criticized by Sudanese activists as a publicity stunt. The RSF attempted to further distance themselves from him, with senior RSF sources claiming that "he does not belong to the RSF" but rather a "group fighting alongside" the RSF. They claimed that he would be "held accountable for his actions."

RSF militia commander Shiraz Khalid received the UAE-owned Sky News Arabia anchor, Tsabih Mubarak, on 9 November. Sky News Arabia claimed that the security and humanitarian situation in El Fasher had stabilized. Despite Sky News Arabia being state media, the friendly interaction and hugging between the two nevertheless outraged the Sudanese community. This comes particularly as Khalid has incited RSF fighters to commit war crimes. Weeks prior, videos of Khalid published where she encouraged fighters to rape and impregnate women to "cleanse their lineage." Sky News Arabia's de facto owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the Vice President of the UAE and a member of the ruling Abu Dhabi family, has met RSF's Hemedti and funded RSF operations in Sudan.

Sudanese Armed Forces

In an address on 27 October, the day El Fasher was captured, al-Burhan first accused the RSF of killing civilians. The SAF have accused the RSF of targeting mosques and aid workers.

In response to Sky News Arabia's anchor Mubarak likely being granted safe passage into El Fasher by the RSF, the Sudanese Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism banned the channel from operating with Sudan. The Ministry stated that it made the decision on the basis that Sky News Arabia had not gotten official accreditation.

International

United Nations

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the fall of El Fasher a "terrible escalation" in violence and urged foreign countries to stop giving weapons or support to the fighting groups. The UN asked for a safe route so civilians can escape the city. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) reported cases of people being killed without trial and ethnic motivations behind the killings.

The UNHCR warned that growing violence in El Fasher forced thousands of people to flee, while many others are trapped in heavy fighting. Fletcher compared the violence to that of the Darfur genocide, and said, "El Fasher, already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering, has descended into an even darker hell." Sudan representative for UNICEF, Sheldon Yett, compared it to the Rwandan genocide.

Avatar of Tom Fletcher

Tom Fletcher

(@UNReliefChief)

tweeted:

Unspeakable suffering in Tawila.

Over half of the fleeing survivors are children. One injured woman I met walked into the camp after surviving an attack, carrying her friend's starving child.

They're asking the world if help is coming.

16 November 2025

From approximately 10 to 16 November, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (OCHA) Fletcher travelled to Darfur for a week long visit to see the state of the humanitarian crisis, document it, and meet with RSF officials. Prior to arriving in a remote town in Darfur nearby El Fasher, Fletcher's UN vehicle was struck by a drone prior to meeting RSF leadership. Senior RSF officials pledged to let the UN enter El Fasher to deliver aid to its civilians and investigate atrocities. Fletcher commented that although details by the end of the meeting were not solidified, the UN's entry would "likely [be] a matter of days, not months." He underscored that the UN and relevant parties must "be careful" that the RSF did not have a say in the delivery and destination of aid. During his visit, he described the suffering of displaced individuals as "unspeakable."

United States

The U.S. senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, expressed a deep disturbance regarding the attacks, calling it "abhorrent and unacceptable," urging the RSF to "immediately halt attacks, protect civilians, and ensure safe passage for those fleeing violence" in posts on Twitter. Lawmakers called for the RSF to be designated a terrorist organization. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she would probably support a terrorism designation, and criticized the UAE for its support of the RSF.

Following a G7 ministerial meeting, on 12 November, Marco Rubio remarked to the press that the US government was aware of who was arming the RSF. He did not mention the UAE, but called for international action to cut weapons supply to the RSF. He furthermore recognized that murder, rape, and sexual violence against civilians had occurred in El Fasher. When asked if he would support a bipartisan Senate effort to designate the RSF as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Rubio commented that "the RSF has concluded that they’re winning and they want to keep going." He added that the refugee outflow from El Fasher was lower than "anticipated," indicated that they were either "dead or because they’re so sick and so famished that they can’t move." The possibility that El Fasher's residents were either dead or on the brink of death, Rubio said, was "weighing" on the US as they formulated a response to the crisis.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE condemned the massacre, announced a AED 367.25 million in aid, and called for warring parties to exercise restraint and cease targeting civilians. UAE Senior Diplomatic Envoy Anwar Gargash stated that it was a collective mistake by the international community after the 2021 Sudanese coup d'état to not have placed sanctions on the RSF and SAF.

Other international reactions

Intergovernmental organizations (IGO) expressed deep concern about and condemnation of the violence and killings, including calls for cessation of killings, aid distribution, and accountability for those responsible. IGOs which published comments include the African Union, European Union, and World Health Organization.

Representatives from countries did the same. This included Germany, Belgium, Pope Leo XIV (of Vatican City), and France.

International and domestic NGOs did the same. This included Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and Human Rights Research Center.

Humanitarian and political implications

The events in El Fasher have increased pressure for aid and diplomacy in Sudan. International groups had warned of a major disaster, mass killings, rape, hunger, and displacement affecting more than 14 million people in Darfur by late 2025. The massacre has become a symbol of the wider violence after peace efforts collapsed and may render a negotiated deal unlikely in the near future.

The capture of El Fasher gave RSF control over all five capitals in Darfur in addition to much of the Western Darfur territory. Some warned of a possible partition of Sudan through the establishment of a de facto state. However, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) commented that for the foundation of an alternative government, the RSF would likely need to capture much of the Kordofan region, which the SAF and its allies are working to secure.

See also

Main articles: Index of racism-related articles and Outline of genocide studies

• 21st-century genocides#Sudan (2023)
• Darfur genocide
• Human rights in Sudan
• List of ethnic cleansing campaigns
• List of genocides
• List of massacres in Sudan
• Masalit massacres (2023–present)
• Politics of Sudan
• Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
  • War crimes during the Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
    • January 2025 Saudi Hospital attack
    • Darfur genocide (2023–present)