UN Sudan probe finds 'hallmarks of genocide' in El-Fasher
The Hindu
UN probe reveals 'hallmarks of genocide' in El-Fasher, condemning atrocities during Sudan's ongoing conflict and calling for justice.
The UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said on Thursday (February 19, 2026) the siege and capture of El-Fasher by a paramilitary group bore "the hallmarks of genocide".
Its investigation concluded that the Rapid Support Forces' (RSF) seizure of the city in Darfur last October had inflicted "three days of absolute horror", and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
It comes the same week as drone strikes reportedly killed dozens across Sudan's Kordofan region, where the UN has regularly warned of similar atrocities unfolding.
At least 15 children were killed in a drone strike on a displacement camp in West Kordofan this week, UNICEF said, while local rights defenders said another strike on a market killed 28 people in North Kordofan.
The West Kordofan strike has been blamed on the Sudanese army, while the RSF has been accused over the North Kordofan attack.
The mission warned that "urgent protection of civilians is needed, now more than ever," in Kordofan, the flashpoint of fighting since the RSF's capture of El-Fasher, which was marked by ethnic massacres, sexual violence and detention.
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