Thousands flee Darfur’s last safe zone as violence spreads to North Kordofan.

KHARTOUM: The United Nations has issued a grave warning over what it calls “unimaginable atrocities” taking place in El-Fasher, the last major city in Sudan’s Darfur region to fall under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

UN officials say the humanitarian situation has deteriorated sharply since the RSF seized the city on October 26, with mass killings, starvation, and targeted violence reported across the area.

“El-Fasher has become a city of grief,” said Li Fung, the UN’s human rights representative in Sudan. “Civilians who survived 18 months of siege are now enduring atrocities of an unimaginable scale.”

‘Entire Families Slaughtered’ as RSF Seizes Control

According to UN field reports, hundreds of civilians including women and children have been killed during and after the RSF’s capture of the city.

Local witnesses describe scenes of mass executions, sexual violence, and house-to-house raids targeting non-Arab communities. Many of those trying to escape were reportedly gunned down or have since disappeared.

The UN estimates that 82,000 of El-Fasher’s pre-siege population of 260,000 have fled since the RSF takeover, with thousands more trapped in neighborhoods still under bombardment.

Yale University Confirms Evidence of Mass Killings

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University released satellite imagery corroborating reports of atrocities, including what appear to be mass graves and pools of blood in several residential districts.

The findings align with UN intelligence suggesting that RSF forces carried out systematic killings as part of an effort to consolidate control over the Darfur region.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk confirmed that civilians are being blocked from leaving, warning that the situation could amount to “crimes against humanity.”

Dire Conditions for Displaced Families

Thousands of survivors have sought refuge in nearby towns such as Tawila, Kebkabiya, Melit, and Kutum, where aid organizations describe catastrophic shortages of food, water, and medicine.

Aid worker Adam Rojal from the Sudanese IDPs and Refugee Camps group said families are “surviving on one meal a day, often shared among many.”

Video footage from Tawila shows makeshift shelters built from plastic sheets and tarps, with humanitarian groups warning of a malnutrition crisis among children.

“Some families have arrived with children who are not their own,” said Mathilde Vu of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “This shows how completely family structures have been torn apart.”

Conflict Expands Beyond Darfur

The violence has now spread into North Kordofan, threatening to ignite a broader regional crisis.

In El-Obeid, the provincial capital, a drone attack killed at least 40 people earlier this week, while more than 36,000 residents fled after RSF fighters captured the nearby town of Bara, located about 60 km north of the city.

Analysts say El-Obeid’s strategic position linking Darfur to Khartoum makes it a key objective for the RSF’s advance, further heightening fears of a nationwide escalation.

UN, Global Actors Urge Intervention

The UN has called for immediate international action to prevent further atrocities and to ensure humanitarian access to those trapped in Darfur.

Regional observers warn that the RSF’s unchecked advance risks deepening Sudan’s already catastrophic civil conflict, potentially pushing the country closer to state collapse.

So far, no ceasefire agreement has been reached, and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) has denied allegations of war crimes.

However, human rights groups say the evidence emerging from El-Fasher is overwhelming, calling for urgent investigation and accountability under international law.