Medical group reports 32 rapes among Sudanese girls from El-Fasher after RSF takeover

A Sudanese medical group has reported 32 rapes among girls fleeing El-Fasher in one week as the western city remains held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Some of the girls were raped inside El-Fasher after the RSF takeover, while others were assaulted while attempting to flee to the nearby Tawila town, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a Sunday statement.

It condemned the rapes as "a clear breach of international humanitarian law and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity."

These crimes "reveal the extent of the disorder and systematic abuses facing women and girls in areas controlled by the RSF, amid the absence of protection and a complete lack of accountability," the statement said.

The medical group held the RSF fully responsible and called for an urgent, independent international investigation, immediate protection for survivors and witnesses, and unrestricted access for medical and humanitarian teams to provide care, treatment, and psychological and legal support.

The conflict in Sudan between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Last month, the RSF seized El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and was accused of massacres. The group controls all five Darfur states, out of Sudan's 18 states, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including Khartoum.

Darfur makes up about one-fifth of Sudan's territory, but most of the country's 50 million people live in army-held areas.