Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces Accused of Massacring 300 Women in North Darfur

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group engaged in armed conflict against the national army, has been accused of horrific atrocities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. According to Selima Ishak, the State Minister for Social Welfare Affairs, the RSF massacred 300 women within the first 48 hours of taking control of the city.

Ishak stated, “Women in El Fasher are subjected to sexual violence, torture, and brutality. People continue to endure abuse, humiliation, and systematic ethnic cleansing—a major crime the world is silently ignoring.”

Civilians fleeing El Fasher to nearby towns like Tawila also face extreme danger, with Ishak describing escape routes as “roads of death.”

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in violent clashes between the army and the RSF, which is backed by foreign actors. El Fasher, Darfur’s largest city, has become a focal point of brutality, with RSF forces forcibly displacing civilians and executing unarmed individuals—acts documented in videos shared by RSF members themselves.