'Our Mission Consists of Exclusively Executing' - How Sudan's Brutal Fighting Force Carried out a Massacre
Warning: This Account Contains Explicit Accounts of Killings.
Militiamen chuckle as they move on the back of a utility vehicle, speeding alongside a row of several dead bodies and moving towards the descending Sudanese sunset.
"Look at all this effort. Observe this act of mass destruction," a fighter shouts.
He smiles as he turns the video equipment on his own face and his associate combatants, their Rapid Support Forces identification on display: "They will all perish in this manner."
The men are celebrating a atrocity that humanitarian officials suspect claimed the lives of more than 2,000 civilians in the Sudanese city of the Darfur city last month.
A City Severed from the World
Having held the urban area under encirclement for nearly two years, from the summer the paramilitary force moved to consolidate its position and restrict the surviving civilian population.
Satellite images demonstrate that forces commenced to construct a enormous berm - a built-up sand barrier - around the perimeter of el-Fasher, sealing off roads and blocking humanitarian assistance.
As the siege escalated, 78 individuals were murdered in an paramilitary assault on a place of worship on 19 September, while the international organization stated fifty-three further were slain in unmanned aircraft and cannon strikes on a displacement camp in October.
Disturbing Footage Shows Weaponless Civilians Executed
At dawn on October 26th the paramilitary force defeated the final military positions and seized the central compound in the urban area, the command center of the 6th Infantry Division, as the government forces retreated.
One of the most graphic recordings to emerge and examined revealed the aftermath of a mass killing at a campus structure on the west of the urban area, where scores corpses were visible strewn throughout the ground.
A senior person wearing a white tunic sat isolated amongst the victims. He turned to gaze as a combatant equipped with a rifle moved along the stairs towards the victim. pointing his rifle, the fighter discharged a one bullet at the man, who fell to the surface lifeless.
"For what reason is this individual yet living," one fighter exclaimed. "Shoot him."
Satellite images captured on 26 October indicated to substantiate that executions were furthermore conducted on the streets of el-Fasher, according to a report published by the university analysis team.
One witness who spoke said the individual had seen "many of our relatives being executed - these individuals were collected in a single location and all killed."
Militia Leaders Attempt to Conduct Damage Control
In the days that followed the killings, militia chief admitted that his troops had perpetrated "atrocities" and said the events would be investigated.
Included among detained was subsequent to a analysis detailing his executions. Meticulously staged and produced footage posted on the paramilitary's authorized messaging channel depict him being led into a prison room at a prison on the outskirts of al-Fashir.
Meanwhile, the militia and associated digital profiles commenced trying to reframe the account.
Posts showing its combatants handing out assistance to residents were disseminated by some users, while the militia's communications team released multiple videos claiming to demonstrate the compassionate handling of military captives.
Regardless of the online campaign being employed by the paramilitary, their conduct in the city have generated global outrage.