The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to seize El Fasher in North Darfur state in Sudan, Amnesty International concluded in a major new report. The organization is now calling for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, and for the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians.

City Under Siege, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces' Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur documents how civilians in and around El Fasher were killed, injured, beaten, tortured and detained between early 2024 and October 2025 as the RSF fought the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Joint Forces in a war that devastated North Darfur. The RSF’s crimes included murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, extermination and persecution.

Hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced, many of them repeatedly risking death and injury during attacks or while fleeing. Countless have been orphaned. People with disabilities and older people have faced acute risks, including targeted attacks, abandonment, and exclusion from essential assistance.

Report by Amnesty International