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Combatants laugh as they travel on the bed of a pick-up truck, speeding by a line of several dead bodies and moving in the direction of the setting African evening sky.

"Look at all this accomplishment. See this ethnic cleansing," a fighter exclaims.

The fighter grins as he directs the video equipment on his person and his fellow combatants, their RSF identification on display: "These people are all going to be killed this way."

The men are celebrating a massacre that humanitarian officials suspect claimed the lives of in excess of thousands of people in the Sudan's urban center of the Darfur city in recent weeks.

A Community Cut Off from the Outside

Following their control of the community under siege for approximately two years, from August the militia advanced to reinforce its dominance and prevent access for the remaining residents.

Orbital photography show that fighters commenced to build a massive earth barrier - a elevated sand barrier - surrounding the edges of el-Fasher, sealing off access routes and blocking aid.

During the encirclement worsened, seventy-eight individuals were slain in an militia attack on a religious building on mid-September, while the UN said fifty-three more were murdered in unmanned aircraft and cannon attacks on a makeshift community in fall.

Graphic Recording Reveals Weaponless Civilians Gunned Down

By sunrise on 26 October the RSF conquered the final army positions and took control of the primary base in the urban area, the command center of the Military Unit, as the military withdrew.

Among the most horrific videos to emerge and studied depicted the aftermath of a mass killing at a university building on the west of the urban area, where scores corpses were visible strewn across the area.

An elderly man dressed in a traditional garment remained isolated surrounded by the corpses. The man turned to glance as a fighter equipped with a firearm proceeded down the stairs facing the victim. lifting his weapon, the gunman discharged a one bullet at the man, who collapsed to the surface lifeless.

"For what reason is this one yet breathing," another militiaman exclaimed. "Kill him."

Space-based imagery taken on late October appeared to verify that shootings were furthermore carried out on the roads of al-Fashir, according to a study issued by the academic research center.

One eyewitness who provided testimony said they had seen "many of our relatives being massacred - the victims were gathered in a specific area and everyone killed."

RSF Commanders Try to Conduct Reputation Management

Following the events that came after the killings, militia commander conceded that his fighters had perpetrated "violations" and said the events would be looked into.

Among those arrested was following a investigation detailing his executions. Meticulously staged and edited footage posted on the RSF's official social media channel depict him being led into a detention area at a detention facility on the perimeter of al-Fashir.

At the same time, the RSF and connected online channels commenced trying to reframe the narrative.

Updates depicting its combatants handing out aid to inhabitants were disseminated by some individuals, while the force's public relations unit released multiple videos purporting to show the proper handling of military detainees.

In spite of the digital initiative being used by the militia, their activities in al-Fashir have provoked global condemnation.