Yale report finds Sudan's RSF closed escape route from el-Fasher and probably burned bodies

The Rapid Support Forces in Sudan have closed a critical exit route used by civilians to flee el-Fasher, and have probably removed and burned bodies since taking over the city, according to a new report. 

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) published an investigation on Thursday analysing satellite images from el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur violently seized by the RSF paramilitary two weeks ago. 

The report found that an escape route in the earthen wall - a makeshift barrier constructed around the city in recent months - linking el-Fasher to nearby Garni was closed off by the group.

Satellite images from 4 November showed that the RSF had walled up a traffic control route, probably by closing the berm using a mechanical earth mover. 

Last week, Yale HRL corroborated reports that the RSF killed civilians trying to flee the city near the earthen wall. Video footage reviewed by Middle East Eye also showed several dead bodies and people being killed near the wall.

Elsewhere in its most recent report, Yale HRL found that the RSF had burned objects which may be consistent with dead bodies in two locations.

Images from 6 November showed white objects visibly charred with black smoke at el-Fasher’s Saudi hospital.

Burning bodies does not conform to traditional Islamic burial practices. 

🚨ATROCITY ALERT 🚨

RSF has closed 1 of only 5 exits out of El-Fasher. @HRL_YaleSPH identifies ongoing possible body disposal activities in and around El Fasher#KeepEyesOnSudan

🛰️@Vantortechhttps://t.co/1HApllgfVx pic.twitter.com/fXKAl54qCl

— Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at YSPH (@HRL_YaleSPH) November 7, 2025

Following the RSF’s takeover of el-Fasher, the city’s resistance committee said that wounded people in the Saudi Hospital had been “collectively liquidated by the [RSF] in horrific ways”. 

A video posted on social media, which appears to have been taken by RSF fighters, showed blood-splattered bodies inside and outside the hospital, as armed militiamen walked through the premises.

Yale HRL also identified activity that may be consistent with the burning of bodies at the Mellit Gate in the earthen wall. 

RSF 'must stop slaughter'

The report found evidence of objects, resembling bodies, removed from the RSF-controlled Children’s Hospital, as well as the probable disposal of bodies on a road between el-Fasher and Garni. 

The Children’s Hospital was the site of two potential mass killings by the RSF last week, Yale HRL reported, with a mass grave identified outside the facility.  

“There are still an estimated 200,000 civilians in el-Fasher and the RSF just sealed off their escape route, and appears to be burning piles of bodies it has slaughtered,” said Will Davies, of the campaign group Avaaz. 

“If lives are to be spared, the RSF must be compelled to stop their slaughter via serious economic pressure on its main backer, the UAE.” 

At the time of the RSF's capture of el-Fasher, 260,000 people were estimated to be living there. It was the last city in Darfur to fall into paramilitary hands, after its inhabitants had been under siege for more than 500 days.

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While some people have escaped to the nearby towns of Tawila and Garni, the fate of most civilians is not known. 

Yale HRL found last week that there had not been large-scale movements of people out of the city, as would be consistent with civilian flight from a newly seized area.

It raised "the likelihood that the majority of civilians are dead, captured or in hiding".

The Sudan war erupted in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanase Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, spiralled into open conflict.

The violence was triggered by disagreements over plans to integrate the RSF into the regular army, but quickly descended into a nationwide war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 13 million.

MEE reported in January 2024 that the UAE was supplying the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda and breakaway regions of Somalia.

Since the war began, RSF fighters have been accused of widespread massacres and abuses, including a genocide in Darfur. The SAF have also been accused of war crimes.