RSF digging mass graves in Sudan's el-Fasher to clean up massacre': Expert

"A researcher at Yale University in the United States says the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are digging mass graves in el-Fasher, the city in Sudan's western Darfur region that has seen mass killings and displacement since the RSF took over last month. Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale's School of Public Health, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the RSF have begun to dig mass graves and to collect bodies throughout the city."

"More than 70,000 people have fled the city and surrounding areas since the RSF's takeover, according to the United Nations, while witnesses and human rights groups have reported cases of summary executions, sexual violence and massacres of civilians. A report from Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab on October 28 also found evidence of mass killings since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, including apparent pools of blood that were visible in satellite imagery."

"The current insecurity continues to block access, preventing the delivery of life-saving assistance to those trapped in the city without food, water and medical care, Jacqueline Wilma Parlevliet, a senior UN refugee agency (UNHCR) official in Sudan, said. Sudanese journalist Abdallah Hussain explained that, before the RSF's full takeover, el-Fasher was already reeling from an 18-month siege imposed by the paramilitary group."

The RSF are digging mass graves and collecting bodies across el-Fasher following their takeover. The RSF seized el-Fasher on October 26 after the Sudanese Armed Forces withdrew, amid broader fighting since April 2023. More than 70,000 people have fled the city and surrounding areas. Witnesses and human rights groups reported summary executions, sexual violence and massacres of civilians. Satellite imagery and ground evidence showed apparent pools of blood and other signs of mass killings. Thousands of people are believed trapped without food, water or medical care as insecurity blocks humanitarian access. El-Fasher had faced an 18-month siege before the full takeover.

Read at www.aljazeera.com