New videos show executions after RSF militia takes key city

Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of executions.

Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces executed a number of unarmed people after seizing the Sudanese city of El Fasher, new videos analyzed by BBC Investigation have shown.

The Rapid Support Forces, which have been engaged in a brutal war with the Sudanese Armed Forces for more than two years, took control of a major military base in the city over the weekend after an extended siege.

Several videos have since emerged showing men in military uniform, some wearing what appear to be Rapid Support Forces insignia, carrying out extreme acts of violence around El Fasher. The UN coordinator in Sudan said he had received “credible reports of summary executions” in the city during an interview with the BBC on Wednesday.

BBC Investigation has contacted Reporters Without Borders for comment. Imran Abdullah, an adviser to the paramilitary forces, denied that the group’s fighters were targeting civilians in an interview with the BBC on Monday.

Sudan has been devastated by war since the outbreak of conflict in 2023, due to the collapse of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the fragile ruling coalition of the Rapid Support Forces. More than 150,000 people died across the country and about 12 million have fled their homes since then.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Denise Brown, the UN coordinator in Sudan, said she had received reports of executions of “particularly unarmed men” since the RSF entered El Fasher. Killing unarmed civilians or surrendering combatants is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

Most of the clips reviewed by BBC Verify are in sandy and dusty rural locations, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where they took place. However, we have geolocated one video showing the summary shooting of an unarmed man in a university building in El Fasher.

The clip showed the unarmed man sitting among dozens of bodies in a corridor. As the video progresses, he is seen moving towards the camera, which was following an armed man who was descending the stairs. Then the fighter raised his gun and fired a single shot that knocked the unarmed man to the ground, where he was lying motionless.

A number of similarly haunting clips are circulating online, but their geographic location is difficult to pin down as they were recorded outside the city itself where there are very few visible landmarks. But BBC Investigation was able to locate one of the fighters who appeared in several videos of executions in the area around El Fasher in recent days.

His activities with the RSF have long been documented on his social media account, which the BBC has seen investigated.

A video clip that first appeared on the Internet over the weekend showed bodies in an area northwest of the city. Working with the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), BBC Verify was able to confirm the location of this footage, but it is difficult to determine whether the dead in the clip are civilians or SAF soldiers killed in combat due to the quality of the video.

But Abu Lulu also appeared in at least two videos showing him participating in the execution of unarmed men kneeling and under armed guard. A reverse image search shows that all the videos have appeared online since the weekend.

In one video, he was seen addressing an injured man lying on the ground, berating him for not sharing information before threatening to rape him. Then the RSF fighter shot the prisoner several times using an automatic rifle.

A separate video shows Abu Lulu standing alongside several RSF forces, carrying AK-style assault rifles, and guarding a group of at least nine unarmed prisoners. After addressing the men, Abu Lulu pointed his gun at the group and opened fire. Following this, the other militants raised their arms and chanted.

In another clip, the fighter was seen standing next to a number of other militants, with dozens of bodies appearing in the background. Some of the fighters were wearing Rapid Support Forces uniforms, and one had a circular patch with a black line running around the perimeter – consistent with the paramilitary insignia.

In August, the Rapid Support Forces said they would investigate Abu Lulu after he was accused of executing a prisoner. A statement said, “If it is proven that the perpetrator is indeed from our ranks, he will be held accountable without delay.”

The videos come after US-based researchers said that satellite images taken of El Fasher since the fall of the city show the effects of mass killings carried out in the streets of the city itself.

Analysts at the Yale Human Research Laboratory highlighted large “clumps” visible in the images, which they said were “consistent with the size range of adult human bodies and not present in previous images.”

In the report released Monday, Yale said its analysts’ observations were “consistent with reports of executions” that have circulated across the Internet, the United Nations and human rights groups in recent days, and also highlighted a “discoloration” that analysts said could be human blood.

Without on-the-ground footage from that site, BBC Verify cannot independently confirm Yale’s findings.

Other satellite images seen by BBC Investigation appear to show cars parked at the end of several streets. Analysts at Yale University noted that their positions seemed to indicate that paramilitary forces were carrying out house-to-house clearance operations. In some areas, groups of bodies identified by Yale University as human were seen near vehicles.

Michael Jones, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the RSF had a track record of carrying out summary killings on ethnic grounds that could partly be attributed to the “decentralized composition” of the paramilitary forces.

“The bulk of the group’s manpower comes from a chaotic confederation of hired militias, local allies and economic opportunists, who are often motivated by interests or grievances that preceded the April 2023 conflict,” he told BBC Verify.

“Although it may occur under the umbrella of RSF policy, violence can sometimes be decentralized, with perpetrators settling personal or community vendettas, seizing assets or territory, and engaging in ethnic cleansing to enhance their political power.”

In recent months, the Sudanese Armed Forces have made several significant gains against the RSF, including retaking the capital, Khartoum, so that the army now controls most of the north and east of the country.

By contrast, the RSF controls almost all of Darfur in the west and much of the neighboring Kordofan region – the traditional base for its predecessor, the Janjaweed paramilitary militia that carried out ethnic killings in Darfur between 2003 and 2005. Many of those who fought with the Janjaweed are believed to have joined the RSF.

Until now, El Fasher was the last major urban center in Darfur still under the control of government forces and their allies. The Rapid Support Forces had previously said they hoped to form a rival government in the city when they took control of it.

Both sides have been accused of war crimes since the conflict began, and in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States said the Rapid Support Forces had committed acts of genocide. BBC has verified Previously documented mass killings carried out by the Rapid Support Forces After the defection of a senior leader.

Additional reporting by Kumar Malhotra, Benedict Jarman, Richard Irvine Brown, Daniele Palumbo, Paul Myers and Thomas Copeland.