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Amnesty International has accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their siege and capture of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The rights group released its findings on Wednesday, detailing a campaign of systematic violence against civilians, including the deliberate targeting of children.

Coverage Comparison

The report has been covered by BBC and Deutsche Welle, both of which highlighted Amnesty's central allegation that the RSF's actions in el-Fasher constituted crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The two outlets drew on Amnesty's research, which involved interviews with 247 victims or witnesses between early 2024 and October 2025 in North Darfur. The report, titled "City Under Siege, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces' Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur," describes attacks on settlements housing the Zaghawa ethnic group, as well as widespread violence against children, including killing, abduction, forced recruitment, and rape.

Key Claims

  • Amnesty International's report accuses the RSF of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during the siege and capture of el-Fasher, Sudan. The report lists crimes including murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, and persecution.
  • The RSF systematically attacked settlements around el-Fasher that housed the Zaghawa people, an ethnic group in western Darfur.
  • Children were deliberately targeted, according to Amnesty, and suffered immensely. The report alleges that children were killed, injured, raped, abducted, and forcibly recruited on a massive scale.
  • Amnesty's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, described the conflict as a "war on civilians" and said, "Children were not collateral damage of this violence — often, they were deliberately targeted and have suffered immensely."
  • The report's evidence "may be relevant to the crime of genocide," according to Amnesty, which noted that an independent UN fact-finding mission had earlier concluded that the 2025 assault on el-Fasher bore the "hallmarks of genocide."
  • The RSF has not yet commented on the Amnesty report, but has denied similar accusations in the past. Both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have previously been accused of war crimes, which they deny.
  • Amnesty International called for a nationwide ceasefire and for an international force to protect civilians.
  • More than 6,000 people were killed in just three days of the assault on el-Fasher, according to a single report carried by one outlet.