The war in Sudan

RSF members celebrate massacre: “Look at this genocide”

The Sudanese RSF has celebrated the massacre in the city of al-Fashir on social media, reports the BBC, whose fact-checking team has reviewed material shared by members of the paramilitary movement.

“Look at this genocide,” a person with an RSF badge says happily in a video and continues.

“They will all die like this.”

At least 2,000 people are believed to have been killed by the RSF in al-Fashir. The massacre has sparked international outrage, and RSF has subsequently said it is investigating the allegations. Among other things, the commander Abu Lulu, who is suspected of having ordered the attacks in the city, has been arrested.

In another video verified by the BBC, he is seen executing a wounded civilian with the words “I will never show mercy, our only job is to kill.”

Experts see no end to the fighting – despite RSF's yes to ceasefire

Despite the paramilitary militia RSF having said yes to a proposal for a ceasefire in Sudan, experts see no end to the fighting.

Cameron Hudson at the think tank CSIS tells AFP that RSF's yes is probably about diverting attention from the suspected war crimes in the Darfur province. He also points out that the Sudanese army has not yet responded to the proposal for a ceasefire.

– The army is now focused on retaking all of Kordofan and then continuing towards al-Fashir.

Sudan expert Johan Brosché also does not believe that the fighting will subside, but that the civil war could rather escalate when more advanced weapons reach the country.

– It is an extremely high-tech war, he tells Sveriges Radio Ekot.

The war in Sudan – the issue

• The paramilitary group RSF took control of al-Fashir, the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in Darfur, at the end of October, after an 18-month siege.
• After the takeover, massacres, summary executions, sexual violence and mass graves were reported, with thousands of civilians dead according to the UN, Yale University and several aid organizations.
• At least 60,000 people have fled el-Fashir, while up to 200,000 are believed to be trapped in the city; refugees testify to rape and death along the escape routes.
• Satellite images and reports from the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale show mass killings and extensive civilian casualties, which has prompted the ICC to investigate suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• The UN and the African Union have condemned the violence and demanded an end to the flow of weapons to Sudan, while the Swedish government states that no Swedish weapons have reached the conflict via the United Arab Emirates.