Doctors Network documents 32 rape cases in El Fasher
November 16, 2025 (EL FASHER) – The Sudan Doctors Network said on Sunday that it had documented about 32 confirmed cases of rape within one week against girls from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) capture of the city.
On Oct. 26, the RSF announced its control over El Fasher, the last major stronghold of central authority in the Darfur region. However, shortly after its takeover, the forces faced accusations of widespread violations, field executions, and mass rape affecting large numbers of civilians.
The Sudan Doctors Network stated in a statement that “the network’s team, based on reliable medical and field information, documented 32 confirmed cases of rape within one week among girls from El Fasher who arrived in the Tawila area.”
It noted that some of these incidents occurred inside El Fasher after the RSF invaded the city, while others were assaulted while trying to flee to Tawila.
The network condemned what it described as systematic rape operations carried out by RSF members against women in El Fasher and those fleeing the war, asserting that these violations represent blatant breaches of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The network held the RSF fully responsible for these crimes, demanding an urgent and independent international investigation, immediate protection for survivors and witnesses, and full, unrestricted access for medical and humanitarian organisations to provide treatment and psychological and legal support.
According to the U.N. human rights office, mass rapes of at least 25 women were reported inside a shelter for displaced people near El Fasher University, where “RSF elements selected women at gunpoint and sexually assaulted them,” forcing hundreds of families to flee amid gunfire.
The spokesman for the Coordination of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Darfur, Adam Regal, said earlier that his organisation had documented at least 150 cases of sexual violence since the city’s fall until the beginning of this November, noting that some of these crimes occurred inside El Fasher, and others on the roads leading to Tawila city.