In a solemn and extensive operation, Sudan’s Forensic Medicine Authority has managed the retrieval, transport, and formal interment of approximately 15,000 corpses from various locations across Khartoum state since April 2024. These remains, initially buried hastily by civilians under coercion or discarded in mass graves by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have now been relocated to official burial grounds.
An official from the Khartoum state health ministry, speaking to the Sudan Tribune, outlined the objective to complete the transfer of all bodies buried outside designated cemeteries by mid-2026. The source detailed how the RSF, which held control over much of the capital and its environs from the war’s outset in April 2023 until March 2025, compelled residents to bury their dead in residential areas, neighborhoods, and even school grounds. Civilians from Khartoum and its adjoining cities, Omdurman and Bahri, reported that accessing cemeteries was impossible due to intense and persistent combat.
This large-scale body recovery campaign, initiated in March 2024 with support from charities like the Red Crescent, addresses the severe humanitarian consequences of the conflict. State authorities emphasized that the RSF’s blockade of traditional cemeteries forced citizens to use public squares, mosques, schools, and private homes as impromptu gravesites.
Disturbing discoveries continue to surface. In June 2025, Sudanese army Brigadier al-Rayah Dafallah reported to Middle East Eye (MEE) that corpses were being found in highly unusual places, including buried beneath house floors. An MEE investigation of a university morgue, repurposed by the RSF as a base, revealed three tanks containing around 20 severely decomposed bodies.
The crisis extends beyond the capital. Satellite imagery analyzed by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab has confirmed the existence of mass graves in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which was seized by the RSF in late October. Accounts from survivors describe horrific scenes of people buried alive, streets littered with corpses, and bodies unceremoniously dragged into squares using bedding materials.
Both warring factions—the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)—face accusations of atrocities. The RSF, which receives backing from the United Arab Emirates, stands additionally accused of committing genocide against non-Arab communities in Darfur, a charge it vehemently denies.
No precise official death toll exists, but estimates from humanitarian organizations on the ground are staggering. As early as October 2024, Islamic Relief CEO Waseem Ahmad suggested the figure could be as high as 200,000, highlighting the immense human cost of the ongoing war.
