On the day the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered el-Fasher in October 2025, a video posted on TikTok showed one of the paramilitary group’s commanders addressing fighters.
asserted
one → enter → fighters
She appeared to be encouraging fighters to rape women in Sudan’s Northern State, hundreds of kilometres from el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
asserted
She → appear → Darfur
You’ll just go for its women, so you cleanse their lineage and bring [brave] sons just like you.
asserted
you → go → you
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The speaker was Khademallah Khashmin Herika, also known as Shiraz Khalid, a major commanding the RSF’s female contingent, according to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
uncertain
speaker → leave → Resilience
The British open-source investigative organisation describes her words as an explicit incitement to rape.
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organisation → describe → rape
It could not establish exactly where the video, posted on October 26, 2025, was filmed.
uncertain
video → establish → October
Separate footage placed Herika in el-Fasher and in Garni, where survivors described girls being detained and raped.
asserted
girls → place → Garni
Herika is among 25 commanders identified in a CIR investigation into sexual violence in Sudan’s war.
asserted
Herika → identify → war
Published on Monday, a year after her video was posted, it examines five locations and periods of reported abuse, linking commanders’ appearances and roles to evidence gathered by the United Nations, rights groups and Sudanese organisations.
asserted
it → publish → Nations
The findings cover both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which have been fighting a three-year-long war, as well as their allied forces.
asserted
which → cover → war
They identify commanders who exercised authority where atrocities were reported, but do not establish that each personally committed or ordered acts of rape.
asserted
each → identify → rape
Investigators checked identities, locations and, where possible, filming dates, with commander sightings independently verified by two analysts.
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Investigators → check → analysts
They compared that record with survivor accounts, reported incidents, threatening rhetoric, and indicators of heightened risk, including forced separation of men and women.
asserted
They → compare → men
The UN fact-finding mission documented mass and gang rape during the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, including at the Saudi Hospital and el-Fasher University.
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mission → find → Hospital
Women and girls were also attacked along escape routes out of the city.
asserted
Women → attack → city
CIR’s report cites a survivor who described being held with other girls at soldiers’ quarters near Garni and raped over two nights.
asserted
who → cite → nights
Her family’s detention for ransom further delayed her access to specialist medical care.
asserted
detention → delay → care
The most senior RSF officer identified around el-Fasher was Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy commander and brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
asserted
officer → identify → Hemedti
CIR verified him at the army’s former 6th Infantry Division base on October 26, 2025, and at the Saudi Hospital on November 4.
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CIR → verify → November
In separate drone footage from October 27, a voice instructs artillery commander Hussein Abu Jalak to pursue vehicles fleeing an earth embankment outside the city, associated with civilian detention and executions.
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voice → instruct → detention
CIR matched the voice to Dagalo by manually comparing it with other verified recordings of him speaking.
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him → match → recordings
RSF sector commander Gedo Hamdan Ahmed, known as Ibn Shouk, also appears across the investigation: at Zamzam displacement camp during the RSF’s April 2025 assault, then around el-Fasher during its takeover six months later.
asserted
Ahmed → know → takeover
His appearances connect two offensives under the same regional command, but they do not establish his responsibility for a specific sexual assault.
asserted
they → connect → assault
A commander on both sides
Another officer appears on opposing sides of the war.
asserted
officer → appear → war
Abuaqla Mohamed Ahmed Alwakil, known as Kaykal, was appointed commander of an RSF division in Wad Madani on December 19, 2023, according to an RSF announcement cited by CIR.
uncertain
Alwakil → know → CIR
Investigators verified him at a former army base there on December 24.
asserted
Investigators → verify → December
The same day, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa documented the rape of seven women at the city’s Industrial School.
asserted
Initiative → document → School
The following day, RSF captain Samar Ibrahim Tirab appeared about 750 metres from the school, dismissing reports of rape and looting as lies.
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Tirab → follow → lies
In October 2024, Kaykal defected to the army’s side.
asserted
Kaykal → defect → side
When army and allied forces recaptured Wad Madani in January 2025, CIR verified him in the city and nearby Wad al-Mehidi, now commanding the Sudan Shield Forces.
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CIR → ally → Forces
The United Nations human rights office reported that Sudan Shield fighters abducted 13 women and a man from Tayba camp on January 10.
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fighters → report → January
Human Rights Watch separately recorded witnesses identifying attackers as Kaykal’s forces.
asserted
Watch → record → forces
Radio Dabanga reported allegations of rape by the group in Tayba and other settlements.
asserted
Dabanga → report → Tayba
In Gezira, southeast of Khartoum, CIR also examined abuses against Kanabi communities, historically marginalised settlements made up of descendants of migrant agricultural workers.
asserted
CIR → examine → workers
These communities faced attacks amid accusations of supporting the RSF.
asserted
communities → face → RSF
Verified footage from Hantoub Bridge shows fighters beating and sexually degrading a detained man before pushing him off the bridge.
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fighters → show → bridge
CIR identified insignia associated with the army-allied Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, General Intelligence Service and Special Mission Forces.
asserted
CIR → identify → Brigade
The most senior army officer CIR placed in Wad Madani during the recapture was Major-General Abdelmoneim Abdelbasit Mohamed, commander of the Sennar axis, identified on January 12, 2025.
asserted
CIR → place → January
His presence is part of CIR’s assessment of command structures, but it does not establish that he directed the filmed attack.
asserted
he → establish → attack
Al Jazeera contacted the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces to ask for a response to the findings laid out in this article, but received no response.
asserted
Jazeera → contact → response
…and 13 more, not listed.
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