'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre

Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of executions.

Fighters laugh as they ride on the back of a pick-up truck, speeding past a row of nine dead bodies and driving towards the setting Sudanese sun.

"Look at all this work. Look at this genocide," one cheers.

He smiles as he turns the camera on himself and his fellow fighters, their Rapid Support Forces (RSF) badges on display: "They will all die like this."

The men are celebrating a massacre that humanitarian officials fear killed more than 2,000 people in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher last month. On Monday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it was investigating whether the paramilitary may have committed "war crimes and crimes against humanity".

El-Fasher was a key target for the paramilitary RSF. It was the last stronghold in Darfur held by the Sudanese military - with whom the RSF has waged a devastating war since their ruling coalition collapsed in 2023.

More than 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the fighting over the past two years and both sides stand accused of a litany of war crimes - many of which were repeated by the RSF after the fall of el-Fasher.

Having held the city under siege for almost two years, from August the RSF moved to consolidate its position and blockade the remaining civilian population.

Satellite images show that troops started to construct a massive berm - a raised sand barrier - around the perimeter of el-Fasher, sealing off access routes and blocking aid. By early October the ring completely surrounded the city - with a smaller barricade encircling a neighbouring village.

By sunrise on 26 October the RSF overwhelmed the final army positions and seized the main base in the city, the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division, as the military withdrew.

Soldiers were filmed laughing as they toured the abandoned headquarters carrying a grenade launcher. Later that day RSF commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo - brother of RSF chief Mohammad 'Hemedti' Dagalo - was seen inspecting the base.

The RSF - which emerged from the Janjaweed militia that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur between 2003-2005 - has long been accused of committing atrocities against non-Arab groups across Sudan. Footage posted online suggested that paramilitary fighters intended to unleash violence against the civilian population in el-Fasher.

While the main RSF force rampaged through el-Fasher, a separate group of fighters remained on the periphery of the city, where they engaged in the brutal executions of a number of unarmed captives.

Most of this violence occurred at a site around 8km (5 miles) away from el-Fasher. Verified videos show dozens of dead bodies in civilian clothing - some of whom appear to be women - lying in a trench running along the periphery of the sand berm constructed by the RSF.

Other clips display scenes of destruction, with fires raging and the burnt-out shells of trucks littered across the landscape. Videos from the scene also show bodies scattered between the vehicles.

Another video showed him killing a group of nine unarmed captives. Footage that emerged days later revealed the bodies were left where they had fallen - still lined up execution-style and lying on the dusty Darfuri ground.

Many of those involved in the killings wore RSF badges, including the group who later celebrated the massacre as a "genocide".

Meanwhile, the RSF and affiliated social media accounts began seeking to reframe the narrative.

Posts showing its fighters handing out aid to civilians were shared by some users, while the paramilitary's media office shared several clips purporting to show the humane treatment of army prisoners of war.