Yale HRL: ‘RSF razed North Darfur farming communities to induce famine’

Researchers at Yale University say the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deliberately burned down at least 41 rural farming communities north and west of North Darfur’s capital of El Fasher between March 31 and June 12 2024, destroying key food sources supplying the city.

The findings, published on Monday by the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, support growing evidence that armed actors intentionally created famine conditions in North Darfur.

Using satellite thermal data from NASA, vegetation indices, and high-resolution imagery, researchers concluded with “high confidence” that RSF forces carried out systematic arson attacks on predominantly Zaghawa farming communities. The attacks coincided with the tightening of the RSF siege on El Fasher in April 2024.

Villages destroyed

Satellite imagery shows that 68 per cent of the 41 destroyed villages now display no visible signs of human activity months after the attacks. Vegetation has begun overtaking abandoned homes, indicating the absence of residents and livestock. Another 12 per cent of the villages show only limited signs of life.

Fire activity in the area surged by more than 330 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous five years, the researchers found. At the same time, cultivated land within two kilometres of the destroyed communities collapsed by 82 per cent, shrinking from an average of 7.16 square kilometres to just 1.25 square kilometres.

Ten of the communities were attacked more than once, while one village was struck at least seven times during the study period.

Famine and siege

The report notes that the destruction began weeks before the RSF launched its siege of El Fasher in April 2024. The siege lasted around 18 months and ended with the RSF capturing the city in October 2025.

The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission later reported mass killings in the area and warned of “indicators of a genocidal path”.

Researchers also noted that the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militias that targeted many of the same communities during the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s.

The report states that the pattern of attacks on farming communities “supports reports of intentional starvation”.

Satellites document destruction

Because humanitarian access to North Darfur remains severely restricted, the researchers relied on satellite data from NASA’s VIIRS and MODIS sensors, Sentinel-2 vegetation monitoring, and high-resolution imagery from commercial providers.

The report says remote sensing technology has become crucial for documenting abuses in areas inaccessible to aid workers.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network had already warned of famine conditions in El Fasher in June 2024. Yale researchers say their findings point to “systematic attacks on objects necessary for the survival of civilian life”.

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Read the full report here: The Impact of Systematic Razing of Agricultural Communities Around El-Fasher: A Remote Sensing Study