GENEVA: The United Nations’ independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said on Thursday the siege and capture of El-Fasher by a paramilitary group bore “the hallmarks of genocide”.

Its investigation concluded that the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) seizure of the city in Darfur state in October had inflicted “three days of absolute horror” and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

The mission warned that “urgent protection of civilians is needed, now more than ever” in neighbouring Kordofan state, the flashpoint of fighting since the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, which was marked by ethnic massacres, sexual violence and detention.

“The scale, coordination and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El-Fasher were not random excesses of war,” said mission chairman Mohamad Chande Othman.

“They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.”

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary RSF has killed tens of thousands and forced 11 million people to flee their homes.

It has triggered what the UN says is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan in October 2023, to begin gathering evidence of violations.

Its investigation into the takeover of El-Fasher, following an 18-month siege, concluded that thousands of people, particularly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, “were killed, raped or disappeared”.

The Zaghawa is one of the area’s largest non-Arab ethnic groups. Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who has been widely accused of funnelling support to the RSF on behalf of their patrons, the United Arab Emirates, is also Zaghawa, which has led to tension among Deby’s people across the border.

The mission interviewed 320 witnesses and victims from El-Fasher and the surrounding areas, including in investigative visits to Chad and South Sudan.

It authenticated, verified and corroborated 25 videos. Survivors spoke of widespread killings, including indiscriminate shootings, and mass executions at exit points.

They described seeing roads filled with the bodies of men, women and children, the mission said.

The report also detailed detention, torture, humiliation, extortion, ransom and disappearances.

Widespread sexual violence targeted women and girls from non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa, it added.

“Women and girls ranging from seven to 70 years old, including pregnant women, were subjected to rape.” Many survivors reported being raped in front of their relatives, the report said, with sexual violence frequently accompanied by extreme physical brutality.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026