**KHARTOUM/NEW YORK** – A United Nations-mandated fact-finding mission has concluded that the prolonged siege and subsequent capture of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and associated militias bore "the hallmarks of genocide." The damning findings, detailed in a report released this week, describe an 18-month occupation during which the RSF and its allies allegedly deliberately imposed conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Zaghawa and Fur ethnic communities. This development coincides with Sudan's government vehemently condemning Uganda for hosting RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, a move Khartoum decried as a contravention of international law.
The conflict, now in its second year, has escalated dramatically, drawing in regional actors and prompting grave international concern. The UN mission's report, chaired by Mohamed Chande Othman, meticulously documented the RSF's actions in El Fasher, asserting that the "scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war." The findings lend significant weight to accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have already been levelled against the RSF by entities such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union. The RSF, which emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias infamous for atrocities in Darfur during the early 2000s, has been locked in a bitter power struggle against the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023, a conflict that erupted after a fissure between RSF commander Dagalo and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, former allies in the post-2019 transitional government.
Adding to the grim catalogue of violence, a fresh wave of drone strikes has swept across Sudan’s Kordofan region. Unicef reported a particularly tragic incident in West Kordofan, where at least 15 children perished in a drone attack on a camp housing displaced persons. Local rights defenders have also reported a devastating strike on a market in North Kordofan, claiming the lives of 28 individuals. While the Sudanese army is implicated in the West Kordofan strike, the RSF stands accused of orchestrating the attack on the North Kordofan market. These aerial assaults underscore the pervasive nature of the violence and its devastating impact on civilian populations already reeling from the broader civil war, which has displaced over 13 million people and led to widespread famine, according to humanitarian agencies.
The diplomatic fallout from Hemedti’s visit to Uganda has been swift and severe. Sudan's foreign ministry issued a strong statement on Sunday, declaring that the Ugandan government's reception of the "rebel leader" constituted a flagrant violation of international norms and laws. President Yoweri Museveni’s meeting with Dagalo at his presidential residence in Entebbe on Friday has been interpreted by Khartoum as a tacit endorsement of a commander whose forces are implicated in widespread human rights abuses. The Sudanese government’s condemnation highlights the increasingly complex geopolitical landscape surrounding the conflict, with regional powers often finding themselves on opposing sides of the diplomatic and military divides. The UN's findings of potential genocidal intent in El Fasher, coupled with the ongoing civilian casualties from aerial bombardments, paint a grim picture of a nation teetering on the brink, with international bodies and governments grappling with how to respond to the escalating humanitarian catastrophe.