Satellite images from western Sudan may reveal the grim aftermath of war: newly dug mass graves near the city of al-Fashir, a key stronghold recently seized by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to ORF News. The findings, published Thursday by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), suggest the sites could be linked to what researchers call “activities consistent with the disposal of human remains.”
The HRL report highlights two locations of concern; one near a mosque, the other around the city’s former children’s hospital where images show extensive ground disturbances. In some instances, the analysts observed “meter-long trenches” appearing suddenly, followed by the disappearance of what seem to be overlapping bodies.
Fresh satellite data indicates that these burial activities may still be ongoing, raising fears of continuing “mass killings” in and around al-Fashir.
Sudan has been mired in conflict since April 2023, when the country’s army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, clashed with the RSF, commanded by his former deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting has devastated the Darfur region, displacing millions and reviving memories of the genocide that scarred it two decades ago.
With the RSF’s capture of al-Fashir on October 26, the paramilitary now holds all five major cities in Darfur, consolidating its control over a region long synonymous with ethnic violence and humanitarian catastrophe.
As satellite images bear silent witness from above, they may soon become crucial evidence in documenting a new wave of atrocities unfolding beneath Sudan’s scorched soil.
