‘Our job is simply killing’

Warning: This story accommodates graphic descriptions of executions.

Fighters snigger as they experience on the again of a pick-up truck, dashing previous a row of 9 useless our bodies and driving in the direction of the setting Sudanese solar.

“Look at all this work. Look at this genocide,” one cheers.

He smiles as he turns the digicam on himself and his fellow fighters, their Rapid Support Forces (RSF) badges on show: “They will all die like this.”

The males are celebrating a bloodbath that humanitarian officers concern killed greater than 2,000 folks within the Sudanese metropolis of el-Fasher final month. On Monday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated it was investigating whether or not the paramilitary might have dedicated “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

El-Fasher was a key goal for the paramilitary RSF. It was the final stronghold in Darfur held by the Sudanese navy – with whom the RSF has waged a devastating struggle since their ruling coalition collapsed in 2023.

More than 150,000 individuals are estimated to have been killed by the preventing over the previous two years and each side stand accused of a litany of struggle crimes – lots of which have been repeated by the RSF after the autumn of el-Fasher.

Having held the town underneath siege for nearly two years, from August the RSF moved to consolidate its place and blockade the remaining civilian inhabitants.

Satellite pictures present that troops began to assemble a large berm – a raised sand barrier – across the perimeter of el-Fasher, sealing off entry routes and blocking support. By early October the ring utterly surrounded the town – with a smaller barricade encircling a neighbouring village.

As the siege intensified, 78 folks have been killed in an RSF attack on a mosque on 19 September, whereas the UN stated 53 extra have been killed in drone and artillery strikes on a displacement camp in October.

Videos shared with BBC Verify additionally recommended that the RSF sought to impose a blockade of meals and important provides. In October, footage exhibits a person together with his arms and toes tied behind his again, hanging the other way up from a tree with metallic chains. The man filming the video accused him of making an attempt to smuggle provides into the besieged metropolis.

“I swear to God you will pay for this you dog,” he shouted, earlier than demanding that the captive beg for his life.

Meanwhile, the RSF pushed ahead into the town with troops engaged in frenetic street-to-street clashes.

By dawn on 26 October the RSF overwhelmed the ultimate military positions and seized the primary base within the metropolis, the headquarters of the sixth Infantry Division, because the navy withdrew.

Soldiers have been filmed laughing as they toured the deserted headquarters carrying a grenade launcher. Later that day RSF commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo – brother of RSF chief Mohammad ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo – was seen inspecting the bottom.

The RSF – which emerged from the Janjaweed militia that killed lots of of hundreds of individuals in Darfur between 2003-2005 – has lengthy been accused of committing atrocities towards non-Arab teams throughout Sudan. Footage posted on-line recommended that paramilitary fighters supposed to unleash violence towards the civilian inhabitants in el-Fasher.

Prior to the paramilitary’s seizure of el-Fasher, very little information had emerged from the town for months. But inside hours of the navy’s collapse, footage of atrocities dedicated by the RSF began to look on-line, shattering the silence that had fallen on the town.

One of probably the most graphic movies to emerge and analysed by BBC Verify confirmed the aftermath of a bloodbath at a college constructing on the western aspect of the town, the place dozens of useless our bodies have been seen scattered throughout the ground.

An aged man sporting a white tunic sat alone amongst the our bodies. He turned to look as a fighter armed with a rifle walked down the steps in the direction of him. Raising his weapon, the gunman fired a single shot on the man, who collapsed to the ground immobile. Fellow troopers, unfazed by the act, instantly noticed one other man’s leg twitch within the tangle of our bodies.

“Why is this one still alive,” one fighter cried. “Shoot him.”

Satellite pictures taken on 26 October appeared to substantiate that executions have been additionally carried out on the streets of el-Fasher, in accordance with a report revealed by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.

Its analysts highlighted giant “clusters” seen within the pictures, which they stated have been “consistent with the size range of adult human bodies and are not present in previous imagery”. It additionally pointed to “discoloration” which the report stated might have been marks attributable to human blood.

One eyewitness who spoke to the BBC stated he had witnessed “many of our relatives being massacred – they were gathered in one place and all killed”.

Another witness recalled seeing a girl being killed after the RSF “shot her in the chest” earlier than throwing her physique apart “after taking all her belongings”.

While the primary RSF pressure rampaged by way of el-Fasher, a separate group of fighters remained on the periphery of the town, the place they engaged within the brutal executions of quite a lot of unarmed captives.

Most of this violence occurred at a web site round 8km (5 miles) away from el-Fasher. Verified movies present dozens of useless our bodies in civilian clothes – a few of whom seem like ladies – mendacity in a trench working alongside the periphery of the sand berm constructed by the RSF.

Other clips show scenes of destruction, with fires raging and the burnt-out shells of vans littered throughout the panorama. Videos from the scene additionally present our bodies scattered between the automobiles.

A key determine within the violence was beforehand recognized by BBC Verify as an RSF commander who goes by Abu Lulu on-line. He was proven executing unarmed captives in two movies, whereas an eyewitness informed the BBC that he “gave an order to his men to kill several innocent people, including children”.

One clip confirmed an RSF soldier trying to intercede as Abu Lulu ready to execute an injured man, whereas the captive pleaded: “I know you. I called out to you a few days ago.”

Abu Lulu dismissed the person’s pleas with a wave of his arms, stating: “I will never have mercy. Our job is only killing.” After aiming his rifle virtually casually, the fighter unleashed a storm of bullets that tore by way of the unarmed man.

Another video confirmed him killing a bunch of 9 unarmed captives. Footage that emerged days later revealed the our bodies have been left the place that they had fallen – nonetheless lined up execution-style and mendacity on the dusty Darfuri floor.

Many of these concerned within the killings wore RSF badges, together with the group who later celebrated the bloodbath as a “genocide”.

In the times that adopted the bloodbath, RSF chief Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo admitted that his troops had dedicated “violations” and stated the incidents can be investigated. A senior UN official stated final week that the RSF had given discover that that they had arrested some suspects inside their ranks.

Among these detained was Abu Lulu after BBC Verify revealed a report documenting his killings. Carefully choreographed and edited footage posted on the RSF’s official Telegram account present him being led right into a cell at a jail on the outskirts of el-Fasher.

Yale analysts additionally accused the RSF of “conducting clean-up of their alleged mass atrocities”. A report issued on 4 November famous that satellite tv for pc pictures present the elimination “of objects consistent with bodies from a location north of RSF’s berm” and recognized graves close to the youngsters’s hospital in el-Fasher.

BBC Verify measured white shapes seen within the hospital courtyard on 30 October as between 1.6m and 2m in size. This is much like the peak of an grownup human and per a physique in a burial shroud generally seen in Sudan.

Meanwhile, the RSF and affiliated social media accounts started looking for to reframe the narrative.

Posts displaying its fighters handing out support to civilians have been shared by some customers, whereas the paramilitary’s media workplace shared a number of clips purporting to indicate the humane therapy of military prisoners of struggle.

Despite the social media marketing campaign being deployed by the RSF, their actions in el-Fasher have sparked world outrage.

BBC Verify approached the RSF, providing it a chance to answer to the allegations contained on this investigation. The group didn’t reply.

Additional reporting by Kevin Nguyen, Alex Murray, Barbara Metzler, Lamees Altalebi, Ahmed Nour and Kumar Malhotra. Graphics by Jess Carr and Mesut Ersoz.