Our Purpose Is Solely Executing' - How Sudan's Brutal Fighting Force Carried out a Mass Killing

Alert: This Report Presents Explicit Details of Shootings.

Militiamen chuckle as they ride on the back of a pick-up truck, racing past a row of nine dead bodies and heading in the direction of the descending African evening sky.

"See this extensive effort. Observe this act of ethnic cleansing," one exclaims.

The fighter smiles as he turns the recording device on his person and his associate militiamen, their paramilitary identification on display: "These people will all perish like this."

These individuals are rejoicing over a mass killing that aid workers suspect claimed the lives of in excess of two thousand people in the African urban center of al-Fashir last month.

A Community Severed from the Outside

Following their control of the urban area under blockade for nearly 24 months, from late summer the paramilitary force moved to consolidate its control and prevent access for the remaining inhabitants.

Space-based imagery reveal that troops commenced to erect a enormous sand wall - a built-up sand barrier - encircling the perimeter of the city, blocking roads and preventing aid.

As the siege intensified, 78 individuals were killed in an paramilitary strike on a place of worship on mid-September, while the United Nations stated fifty-three more were murdered in aerial and cannon attacks on a refugee settlement in fall.

Graphic Recording Reveals Weaponless Individuals Shot

At dawn on 26 October the RSF overwhelmed the last army strongholds and captured the primary headquarters in the urban area, the command center of the Military Unit, as the military pulled back.

Among the most graphic videos to appear and analysed showed the consequences of a atrocity at a campus structure on the western of the city, where scores dead bodies were observed scattered over the ground.

An elderly person wearing a traditional garment remained isolated amid the corpses. The man rotated to glance as a militiaman equipped with a rifle walked descending the staircase in the direction of the victim. pointing his rifle, the shooter released a one shot at the victim, who collapsed to the surface motionless.

"Why is this individual yet alive," a combatant cried. "Execute this one."

Space-based imagery taken on 26 October indicated to confirm that killings were furthermore carried out on the thoroughfares of the city, as reported by a study issued by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.

One observer who spoke reported they had seen "many of our relatives being massacred - they were collected in one place and everyone eliminated."

RSF Leaders Attempt to Implement Damage Control

In the days that came after the massacre, RSF chief conceded that his forces had perpetrated "violations" and announced the occurrences would be looked into.

Part of the arrested was after a analysis detailing his murders. Meticulously choreographed and modified footage shared on the militia's authorized social media platform reveal the commander being taken into a detention area at a prison on the perimeter of the city.

Simultaneously, the militia and associated social media channels started trying to reshape the narrative.

Updates presenting its combatants handing out supplies to civilians were shared by various users, while the paramilitary's public relations unit published multiple clips purporting to show the compassionate handling of military detainees.

In spite of the social media campaign being used by the paramilitary, their conduct in el-Fasher have sparked international condemnation.

Timothy Bowers
Timothy Bowers

A Berlin-based web developer and digital strategist with over 8 years of experience in creating user-centric online solutions.