Researchers warn Sudanese paramilitary is concealing killings

A research team from Yale University has said that Sudan’s paramilitary rapid support forces (RSF) have been trying to cover up mass killings in el-Fasher.

According to BBC News on December 16th, the team has said that in order to cover up mass killings, the RSF has been burning and burying bodies. Since RSF took over the city in October, there have been reports of executions and crimes against humanity.

According to an evaluation of satellite images by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), the RSF likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies after taking over el-Fasher. The war between the RSF and the Sudanese military has caused a huge humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Since the civil war started, it has displaced around 5 million children. Children have been massively affected during the conflict and have been suffering immensely since the war broke out in 2023.

A recent attack that occurred in Kalogi, directly affected children, with a drone attack from the RSF hitting a kindergarten.

Aside from the recent drone attacks, the crisis in Sudan is also worsening, with children and adults suffering from malnutrition, resources being low, and people having to travel for miles in order to reach safety.

The RSF has not responded to the report regarding the satellite images; however, its leader previously admitted his fighters had carried out some violations in the city.

The report had said the RSF “engaged in a systematic multi-week campaign to destroy evidence of its widespread mass killings” and “this pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing.”

The report was also evidence of months of monitoring the situation in the city, and the report shows the extent of the violence that the Sudanese people have had to endure.

The research from HRL, follows warnings from aid agencies about the low number of civilians who managed to successfully flee from the conflict area, el-Fasher, after the RSF took over.

And although some have managed to flee, the UN estimates roughly 250,000 people are still trapped in the city, and less than half that number have are thought to have sought help at external camps for displaced people.

With the ongoing war showing no sign of ending, the number of people displaced continues to grow, and it is believed that more than 13 million people have been displaced since the war began in April 2023.

BBC News, Maghrebi.org