Viral Video From El Fasher Raises Alarms
A short, shaky clip uploaded on 18 August shows a Rapid Support Forces officer questioning then shooting a trader nicknamed Uncle Ahmed on a dusty street in El Fasher. The victim’s last words plead for mercy and identify him as Borgo, a non-Arab community member.
Within hours, the footage moved from WhatsApp groups to X, triggering local and international condemnation and renewing scrutiny of RSF conduct in Darfur.
Geolocation Validates the Crime Scene
Independent analysts linked the video to Hai al-Nasr, two kilometres north of Sudanese Armed Forces’ 6th Infantry Division headquarters and near Nabd al-Hayat hospital, matching coordinates 13°38’54.59″N 25°20’59.26″E published by Sudans Post.
Who Is Brigadier Issa Abu Lulu?
Cross-referencing earlier RSF clips, researchers identified the gunman as Brigadier-General Al-Fatih Abdallah Idris, better known as Issa Abu Lulu, a commander from the Rezaigat’s Awlad Rashid line.
The officer had previously appeared at the Jili refinery in 2024 and in North Kordofan camps, where witnesses accuse him of executing prisoners, suggesting a consistent operational footprint.
Identity-Based Killings as Strategy
Human-rights monitors observe that Abu Lulu’s questions on tribal origin before firing fit a wider pattern in which RSF units target Zaghawa, Borgo, Fur and Masalit civilians.
Such selective violence, documented by Amnesty International and local lawyers, is viewed as deliberate terror aimed at depopulating resistance strongholds and recruiting loyalty within Arab militias.
Civil Society Calls for Accountability
The Civil Democratic Alliance led by former premier Abdalla Hamdok labelled the shooting a racist crime that threatens Sudan’s social fabric, urging urgent global pressure.
Emergency Lawyers described the act as both war crime and crime against humanity, demanding international investigation and protection for civilians still trapped in El Fasher.
Opposition figure Omer Eldigair warned that peace remains impossible while perpetrators roam free, echoing widespread calls for a ceasefire between RSF and the army.
Regional Stakes for Peace and Security
El Fasher, last Darfur capital under army control, has become a hinge for broader negotiations; its fall could tip humanitarian conditions from dire to catastrophic, analysts say.
Neighbouring states fear spill-over of fighters and displacement, while the African Union presses both sides to restore corridors for aid convoys.