Our Task Consists of Exclusively Eliminating' - How Sudan's Brutal Paramilitary Group Conducted a Mass Killing
Warning: This Report Includes Explicit Accounts of Shootings.
Fighters smirk as they travel on the rear of a pick-up truck, hurrying alongside a line of several dead bodies and moving towards the setting Sudanese sunset.
"Look at all this accomplishment. Look at this act of ethnic cleansing," a combatant cheers.
The fighter beams as he points the camera on his own face and his companion militiamen, their paramilitary insignia clearly shown: "These people are all going to be killed like this."
The combatants are rejoicing over a massacre that relief organizations believe claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher last month.
A Community Isolated from the Outside
Following their control of the community under encirclement for almost two years, from August the militia advanced to reinforce its position and blockade the leftover civilian population.
Satellite images demonstrate that forces began to build a enormous sand wall - a elevated dirt embankment - encircling the perimeter of the city, closing entry points and halting relief supplies.
As the siege worsened, 78 individuals were murdered in an militia attack on a mosque on September 19th, while the United Nations reported dozens further were killed in unmanned aircraft and artillery bombardments on a displacement camp in the autumn.
Graphic Recording Reveals Unarmed Individuals Shot
By sunrise on late October the paramilitary force conquered the remaining army defenses and seized the main base in the urban area, the command center of the Military Unit, as the government forces withdrew.
Perhaps the most disturbing recordings to emerge and studied revealed the aftermath of a mass killing at a educational facility on the western of the urban area, where dozens dead bodies were visible strewn throughout the area.
A senior individual wearing a white tunic sat by himself amongst the corpses. He rotated to gaze as a militiaman equipped with a weapon moved descending the steps in the direction of the individual. Raising his firearm, the gunman discharged a single bullet at the individual, who fell to the ground still.
"How come is this person yet living," a combatant shouted. "Execute him."
Orbital photography captured on late October appeared to substantiate that shootings were furthermore performed on the roads of el-Fasher, based on a report released by the university analysis team.
An witness who spoke reported the individual had seen "numerous of our relatives being executed - these individuals were collected in a specific area and each one killed."
Paramilitary Commanders Seek to Conduct Reputation Management
Following the events that followed the atrocity, militia leader acknowledged that his troops had committed "wrongdoings" and announced the occurrences would be examined.
Part of the detained was following a report recording his killings. Carefully choreographed and edited recording posted on the RSF's authorized Telegram platform depict the commander being led into a prison room at a prison on the outskirts of el-Fasher.
At the same time, the paramilitary force and connected digital profiles began attempting to alter the account.
Posts showing its militiamen handing out supplies to inhabitants were shared by several users, while the paramilitary's public relations unit published several recordings claiming to demonstrate the proper treatment of government captives.
Despite the online effort being employed by the militia, their activities in el-Fasher have sparked international outrage.