Sudan investigation maps commanders linked to wartime rape
Investigative unit CIR identifies 25 commanders present at five sites during periods of reported sexual violence.
On the day the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered el-Fasher in October 2025, a video posted on TikTok showed one of the paramilitary group’s commanders addressing fighters. She appeared to be encouraging fighters to rape women in Sudan’s Northern State, hundreds of kilometres from el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
“The Northern State? You’ll just go for its women, so you cleanse their lineage and bring [brave] sons just like you.”
The speaker was Khademallah Khashmin Herika, also known as Shiraz Khalid, a major commanding the RSF’s female contingent, according to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
The following day, RSF captain Samar Ibrahim Tirab appeared about 750 metres from the school, dismissing reports of rape and looting as lies.