Ethnic Massacres Return to Darfur: RSF Slaughter 56 Civilians in Latest Atrocity
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have once again stained Sudan’s Darfur region with blood, killing 56 civilians in Um Kadadah in what local activists describe as ethnically motivated massacres. The attacks, carried out on Thursday and Friday, mark a grim escalation in Sudan’s brutal civil war, where the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have turned the country into a battleground. With over 10 million displaced and 12 million facing starvation, the latest killings underscore the RSF’s relentless campaign of terror — particularly against non-Arab communities in Darfur.
Um Kadadah, a town 180km east of el-Fasher, fell back under RSF control just before the slaughter began. El-Fasher remains the last major Darfur city held by the SAF, making it a critical battleground. But as the RSF tightens its grip on surrounding areas, civilians are paying the price. Survivors report executions, mass burnings, and targeted killings based on ethnicity — a horrifying echo of the early 2000s genocide. The RSF, descended from the Janjaweed militias responsible for those atrocities, appears to be reviving the same brutal tactics.
The massacre follows another wave of RSF violence near el-Fasher, where over 100 people — including 20 children — were killed in attacks on displacement camps. The UN confirmed that the RSF launched “coordinated ground and aerial assaults” on Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps, where famine-stricken families were already struggling to survive. These camps, housing those displaced by earlier conflicts, have become killing fields, with reports of indiscriminate shelling and executions. The international community has condemned the attacks, but little has been done to stop them.
A recent UN fact-finding mission revealed that both the RSF and SAF have committed war crimes, including sexual violence, mass executions, and ethnic cleansing. Investigators collected 182 testimonies from survivors, many of whom described systematic rape and torture by RSF fighters. Middle East Eye previously documented cases of women and girls — some as young as 12 — being assaulted by men in RSF uniforms. These crimes are not random but part of a deliberate strategy to terrorize and displace entire communities.
The RSF’s resurgence in Darfur has reignited fears of another genocide. With the SAF losing ground and international aid blocked by fighting, millions face starvation and relentless violence. Humanitarian agencies warn that without urgent intervention, Darfur could see death tolls rivaling the worst years of its past conflicts. Yet global attention remains fragmented, with Ukraine and Gaza dominating headlines while Sudan’s crisis spirals into oblivion.
As the RSF advances, the world must decide: will it act to prevent another Rwanda-style catastrophe, or will Darfur’s people be abandoned once more? The massacres in Um Kadadah and el-Fasher are not isolated incidents — they are part of a calculated campaign of annihilation. If history has taught us anything, it’s that silence equals complicity. The question now is whether the international community will break that silence before it’s too late.
