Amnesty says RSF carried out ethnic cleansing in Sudan’s el-Fasher | Sudan War News

A human rights group has accused the Sudanese army of “crimes against humanity” over attacks in and around the capital of North Darfur State.

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in their attacks on the city of El-Fasher between 2024 and 2025, rights group Amnesty International has said.

In a report published on Wednesday, Amnesty said it documented how civilians in North Darfur State in western Sudan were “killed, injured, beaten, tortured and imprisoned between 2024 and October 2025”.

“RSF crimes include murder, forced deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, slavery, murder and torture,” the report said.

“Hundreds of thousands of children have fled their homes, many of them repeatedly risking death and injury during attacks or fleeing. Countless have been orphaned. Disabled and elderly people face great risks, including attacks, abandonment, and being cut off from essential services,” it added.

The report said that the RSF is constantly attacking villages and towns near El-Fasher where the Zaghawa people lived.

Sudan has been in turmoil since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed thousands of people and displaced around 14 million, according to United Nations.

The two groups have been accused of atrocities, with an independent UN commission of inquiry concluding in February that the El-Fasher attack in 2025 had “signs of genocide”.

Amnesty said it interviewed 246 people for its report, which included 208 survivors – 169 adults and 39 children – who had witnessed or experienced “conflict-related violence”.

After the RSF carried out the last violence in El-Fasher on October 26, 2025, the human rights group found that hundreds of civilians “were killed and many others were tortured or imprisoned”.

A 58-year-old woman who survived said she saw about 1,000 dead bodies, including children.

According to Amnesty, the RSF besieged El-Fasher from May 2024 to October 2025, withholding food and humanitarian aid while shelling the city almost daily. The siege led to famine, forcing the people to eat ambaz, a groundnut oil that was often used as animal feed.

Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said this is true “a war against civilians”.

“The world was warned about the dangers faced by civilians in El-Fasher when the RSF surrounded the city. This is destroying the conscience of the people,” said Callard.

“A global end to the war is urgently needed. An independent and well-armed international force must be sent to Sudan to protect civilians from the attacks of all the warring factions. Without urgent action from the outside world, attacks on civilians – and the great suffering and trauma inflicted on children – will continue unabated.”