The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has carried out a systematic campaign in recent weeks to erase evidence of mass killings committed in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, following its takeover of the city on October 26, according to a new report by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab.
The report, released on Tuesday, said the RSF’s mass killings targeted civilians who attempted to flee the city and sought refuge in the “First Degree” neighborhood near central El-Fasher.
It confirmed that after committing the massacres—which claimed the lives of dozens of civilians—the RSF engaged in a weeks-long, organized effort to destroy evidence of the killings by burying, burning, and transporting human remains on a large scale.
The report noted that the campaign to dispose of and destroy bodies is still ongoing.
Using satellite imagery, researchers identified 150 features consistent with human remains in and around El-Fasher, and documented “at least 20 instances of body burning.”
Within one month, nearly 60 of these features disappeared, while eight new excavation sites appeared near massacre locations—sites inconsistent with civilian burial practices. The report estimates the death toll to be in the tens of thousands.
Analysts also detected changes in ground coloration to red at 38 locations, consistent with heavy bloodshed. Over time, the red coloration turned brown, a transformation scientifically consistent with blood oxidation.
The Yale report, titled “Systematic Mass Killings by the Rapid Support Forces and Body Disposal in El-Fasher, North Darfur, October 26–November 28, 2025,” relied on satellite imagery, open-source intelligence, local news reports, and remote-sensing data.
The Yale School of Public Health urged the international community, including the UN Security Council, to secure immediate access to El-Fasher to deliver humanitarian aid to survivors and collect remaining evidence of the killings, stressing that “time is critically important—both for those still alive and for the evidence left by those who have died.”
