LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- Newly analyzed satellite images have revealed what Yale researchers describe as chilling evidence that mass killings are continuing in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, days after it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The findings suggest that large-scale atrocities may still be unfolding, even as the world’s attention drifts from Darfur’s deepening crisis.
The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University reported Friday that imagery collected between Monday and Friday showed at least 31 clusters of what appear to be human bodies scattered across El-Fasher, in neighborhoods, university grounds, and near military installations.
The lab warned that much of the population may now be “dead, captured, or in hiding.”
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El-Fasher’s fall on Sunday marked the RSF’s capture of the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in western Darfur, after an 18-month siege that left the city isolated and starving. Since then, survivors have described scenes of terror, including summary executions, sexual violence, looting, and children shot before their parents.
Communications remain largely severed, making independent verification nearly impossible. The United Nations says more than 65,000 people have fled the city, though tens of thousands remain trapped amid RSF control. Before the assault, El-Fasher was home to roughly 260,000 residents.
While the RSF has claimed to arrest fighters accused of abuses, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher cast doubt on the group’s willingness to investigate atrocities. Both the RSF and the Sudanese army face mounting accusations of war crimes throughout their brutal conflict, which began in April 2023.
El-Fasher’s capture cements RSF dominance over all five state capitals in Darfur, effectively splitting Sudan along an east-west divide, marking a political and humanitarian fracture that threatens to reshape the nation’s future.
Ultimately, as satellite images expose the silent carnage unfolding in Darfur, the question now confronting world leaders is whether Sudan’s war will continue to rage unchecked or finally compel a global reckoning.
