Sudan's RSF commander admits 'abuses' by fighters in El Fasher

Gen Mohamed Dagalo tells residents to return home when mines and explosives are removed

Gen Mohamed Dagalo is commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. AP

The commander of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces acknowledged on Wednesday that his men committed “abuses” against civilians in the Darfur city of El Fasher, and promised to bring those responsible to justice.

In a video broadcast three days after his men captured the city from the army and its allies, Gen Mohamed Dagalo called on El Fasher's residents who had fled fighting and famine there to return home after mines and unexploded ordnance are removed, which he said would take days.

He also invited local and international aid groups to launch an emergency aid operation for the residents of El Fasher, who have faced hunger, disease and shelling for 18 months when the city was besieged by the RSF.

Gen Dagalo's broadcast was posted online amid widespread accusations by the UN and aid workers that RSF fighters killed scores of people in El Fasher, including patients in a hospital, after they seized the city on Sunday.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, said in a statement that 460 patients and companions were reported to have been killed at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher. He said the WHO was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reports.

Many Sudanese people have fled El Fasher after the RSF seized it from the army. AP

Video clips posted online purport to show RSF fighters killing unarmed civilians. One appeared to show RSF fighters inside the hospital where bloodied bodies lay on the floor.

The National could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. The violence has reignited calls for a political settlement to end the war in Sudan.

“I see that there have been abuses in El Fasher. I announce the formation of an investigation commission. This is not just talk,” said Gen Dagalo in the broadcast. “It will immediately investigate and bring to justice any soldier or officer found to have committed a crime or abused anyone.”

Gen Dagalo also called on his fighters not to kill army troops who had been captured and to immediately free any civilians illegally detained.

The RSF has been accused by the UN and rights groups of war crimes, including a 2023 attack on another Darfur city, Geneina, where hundreds were killed and tens of thousands fled across the border to Chad.

The army also faces charges of war crimes, chiefly over indiscriminate shelling and killings of suspected collaborators in areas it has retaken from the RSF.

The war in Sudan, which is midway through its third year, has killed tens of thousands and displaced at least 13 million people. About 30 million – more than half the population – are facing hunger, with famine declared in some areas, mainly in Darfur.

The cause of the war is rooted in a rivalry between army chief and de facto leader of Sudan, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and Gen Dagalo, with both wanting to dominate the vast Afro-Arab nation in north-east Africa.