Our Purpose Is Only Eliminating' - How The Sudanese Ruthless Paramilitary Group Conducted a Massacre
Warning: This Account Includes Explicit Details of Killings.
Militiamen smirk as they ride on the bed of a transport truck, hurrying past a series of multiple dead bodies and driving towards the descending Sudan's evening sky.
"See all this effort. Observe this ethnic cleansing," a fighter cheers.
He beams as he turns the recording device on his own face and his fellow militiamen, their RSF insignia visible: "They will all perish this way."
The men are exulting in a massacre that aid workers believe resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people in the Sudanese urban center of the Darfur city in recent weeks.
A Community Severed from the Outside
Following their control of the community under blockade for approximately 24 months, from the summer the paramilitary force proceeded to strengthen its position and blockade the surviving residents.
Satellite images reveal that fighters started to erect a massive sand wall - a elevated dirt embankment - around the edges of the city, sealing off access routes and halting aid.
While the blockade intensified, seventy-eight individuals were slain in an paramilitary attack on a place of worship on mid-September, while the UN reported dozens additional were killed in unmanned aircraft and cannon bombardments on a displacement camp in the autumn.
Disturbing Recording Shows Unarmed Civilians Executed
In the early morning on late October the paramilitary force conquered the remaining government positions and seized the central base in the community, the headquarters of the Military Unit, as the army retreated.
Perhaps the most horrific recordings to surface and examined revealed the aftermath of a mass killing at a educational facility on the western side of the community, where dozens dead bodies were seen spread across the floor.
An elderly man wearing a traditional garment was seated by himself amid the corpses. The man turned to gaze as a combatant carrying with a weapon moved down the steps towards the victim. lifting his firearm, the gunman released a single shot at the individual, who fell to the ground lifeless.
"How come is this person still alive," one militiaman exclaimed. "Shoot this one."
Space-based imagery taken on late October seemed to substantiate that executions were additionally carried out on the streets of el-Fasher, based on a study issued by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.
A key eyewitness who spoke said he had seen "numerous of our family members getting killed - the victims were gathered in a specific area and each one killed."
Militia Commanders Attempt to Carry Out Damage Control
In the days that followed the atrocity, RSF commander acknowledged that his forces had perpetrated "violations" and announced the occurrences would be examined.
Part of the apprehended was following a investigation detailing his executions. Meticulously orchestrated and edited footage shared on the militia's formal Telegram channel show him being taken into a prison room at a detention facility on the outskirts of the city.
Simultaneously, the militia and affiliated social media profiles started seeking to reshape the story.
Content showing its combatants handing out aid to civilians were circulated by some users, while the militia's media office published several videos purporting to demonstrate the compassionate management of government captives.
Regardless of the digital initiative being employed by the RSF, their actions in al-Fashir have generated international anger.