El Fasher Massacre: RSF’s ‘Abu Lulu’ Arrest Seen as PR Stunt to Deflect Global Outrage

Sudanese activists denounce militia’s staged accountability effort as fresh evidence ties RSF leadership — backed by the UAE — to atrocities in North Darfur.

Sudan, PUREWILAYAH.COM - Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) faced fierce backlash after announcing the arrest of several fighters, including notorious commander “Abu Lulu,” amid global condemnation of the massacres in El Fasher.

Activists and analysts slammed the move as a calculated public-relations ploy to sanitize the militia’s image and divert attention from systematic crimes against civilians.

Footage circulated by RSF-linked media outlets attempted to portray the arrests as proof of internal accountability.

Instead, Sudanese voices rejected the narrative, launching the viral hashtag “You are all Abu Lulu” — asserting that brutality is embedded in the RSF’s command structure, not confined to individual fighters.

“The detention of Abu Lulu appears to be a PR stunt to deflect global anger and shift attention away from the militia’s responsibility for this massacre,” said Mohamed Suliman, a Sudanese researcher based in Boston, stressing that the public overwhelmingly views the move as a cynical fabrication.

Sudanese social media users posted images of RSF leaders, including commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) and his deputy Abdul Rahim Dagalo, each labeled “Abu Lulu” to highlight collective culpability.

Evidence Links RSF Leadership to Killings

Open-source investigators at the Center for Information Resilience confirmed that Abdul Rahim Dagalo was present in El Fasher during the assaults. Human rights advocates emphasized that any so-called “investigation” by RSF is a meaningless attempt to mask atrocities.

Hala al-Karib, regional director at the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, condemned the arrest narrative as a “painful joke” and accused the militia of attempting to erase evidence of genocide.

“Hundreds of thousands have perished, and girls and women have been ruthlessly raped. Still, they try to silence our suffering,” she said.

She reminded the international community that the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militias responsible for the Darfur genocide:
“You want us to give RSF credibility? This is a mockery.”

Shayna Lewis, a Sudan specialist at Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities, said the RSF strategy is clear:

“This is a diversion. They want to pretend massacres are the work of a few rogue soldiers, not a systematic policy of genocide. These claims of accountability run hollow. It’s a farce.”

El Fasher: Mass Killings, Sexual Violence, and Forced Displacement

The UN human rights office reported that hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters were murdered while trying to flee El Fasher, with women and girls raped at gunpoint.

A survivor speaking at a SIHA-organized conference recounted horror scenes:

“Some of my brothers were killed in front of me. I don’t know where my mother or father are… They were tortured, whipped, and vehicles rolled over them. The RSF are merciless.”

The World Health Organization confirmed attacks on the Saudi maternity hospital in El Fasher, where at least 460 patients were killed and healthcare workers abducted. Soldiers reportedly returned “twice more and finished off what was still standing.”

The International Organization for Migration reported over 60,000 civilians fleeing between October 26–29 as RSF forces stormed neighborhoods, executing residents and torching homes.

Humanitarian Agencies Warn of Catastrophic Conditions

Médecins Sans Frontières warned the region is on the verge of total collapse as displaced families endure starvation, torture, and gunfire while fleeing.

“They were forced in El Fasher to eat animal feed,”
said MSF pediatrician Giulia Chiopris.

“Children have severe abdominal problems. Our surgical teams are working non-stop.”

Activists say Darfur is now in an active state of genocide — fueled by foreign support to RSF, especially from the United Arab Emirates, whose political, financial, and logistical backing has emboldened militia leaders and enabled mass killing across Sudan.

UAE’s Complicity Must Be Confronted

As RSF crimes escalate, Sudanese voices continue to demand accountability not only from the militia but also from its international sponsors. The UAE’s steady support for RSF leaders has played a direct role in empowering a militia now carrying out mass executions, ethnic cleansing, and systematic rape in Darfur.

While RSF attempts to stage theatrical arrests, the world is witnessing a genocide enabled by foreign complicity and shielded by diplomatic silence.

Sudan’s activists warn: Whitewashing genocide will not erase the truth nor absolve its backers. (PW)