MORE than 6,000 people were killed in over three days when a Sudanese paramilitary group unleashed “a wave of intense violence shocking in its scale and brutality” in Sudan’s Darfur region in late October, the United Nations reported on Saturday.

The Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) offensive to capture the city of el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, included widespread atrocities that amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a damning new report.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said: “The wanton violations that were perpetrated by the RSF and allied Arab militia in the final offensive on el-Fasher underscore that persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence.”

The RSF and their allied Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, overran el-Fasher, the Sudanese army’s only remaining stronghold in Darfur, on October 26 and rampaged through the city and its surroundings after more than 18 months of siege.

The 29-page UN report detailed a set of atrocities that ranged from mass killings and summary executions, sexual violence, abductions for ransom, torture and ill-treatment to detention and disappearances. 

The OHCHR said it documented the killing of at least 4,400 people inside el-Fasher between October 25 and October 27, while more than 1,600 others were killed as they were trying to flee.

The report, however, warned that the actual scale of the death toll of the week-long offensive in el-Fasher was “undoubtedly significantly higher.”

Mr Turk said there were “reasonable grounds” that RSF and their allied Arab militias committed war crimes, and that their acts also amounted to crimes against humanity.

The alleged atrocities in el-Fasher mirror a pattern of RSF conduct in its war against the Sudanese military. The RSF did not respond for comment.

The paramilitaries’ General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has previously acknowledged abuses by his fighters, but disputed the scale of atrocities.

The war began in April 2023 when a power struggle between the two sides exploded into open fighting.

The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with parts of the country pushed into famine. It has also been marked by atrocities which the International Criminal Court said it was investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

The Sudanese military is accused of receiving backing from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates is alleged to be supporting the RSF.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all deny any involvement in the conflict.