Warning: This article contains graphic details and content. Links may have been removed to avoid amplifying harmful content. Featured image source: X
Killings in Salha neighbourhood of Omdurman, Khartoum State
4 min read
Sudan Witness
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF, driving the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The fighting, concentrated in urban centres like Khartoum and Omdurman, has led to mass displacement, widespread destruction, and mounting allegations of war crimes.
Both sides have been accused of indiscriminate attacks, looting, and extrajudicial killings, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
On 27 April 2025, 31 civilians from Salha in Omdurman were reportedly killed by Sudan’s RSF. Footage analysed by Sudan Witness reveals a sequence of events involving unarmed detainees, armed men, and bodies left on a roadside.
Credit: Esri, HERE, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community
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Reports of the event first emerged on 27 April 2025, when the Sudanese Doctors Network posted on X, claiming that the RSF had committed a massacre, killing 31 people from the Salha area in Omdurman, including minors.
Civilians detained and harmed
Video 1:
On 28 April, Sudan War Updates posted a video to X showing a group of at least 25 males in civilian clothing being forced to walk down a street in single file. The group are surrounded by armed men, some of whom are wearing uniforms resembling those worn by the RSF.
Source: @Sudan_War via X
Video 2:
One day before, on 27 April, Sudan War Updates posted a second video to X showing what appears to be the same group – at least 25 unarmed men in civilian clothing walking in single file under the escort of armed men, some of whom are wearing RSF-style uniforms. A man with an RSF patch on his arm is filming himself and other armed men, some of whom are carrying sticks and whips that are used to harm the group of detained men. At the end of the video, the men are detained on the floor in the middle of the street.
Footage: @Sudan_War via X
CIR geolocated Video 1 to Salha Road, which runs through the Salha neighbourhood in southern Omdurman.
Sources: @Sudan_War via X and Google Earth
CIR geolocated Video 2 to Salha Road, roughly 250 metres north of the first location.
Sources: @Sudan_War via X and Google Earth
Visual matches between individuals in Videos 1 and 2 suggest that they depict the same group.
The video is overlaid with a timestamp claiming it was recorded on the morning of 27 April.
Sources: @Sudan_War via X and Google Earth
Video 3:
A third video was posted to a pro-SAF Telegram channel on 27 April, which appears to have been filmed shortly after the second video.
It shows the same group of detainees on Salha Road, surrounded by what appears to be the same group of armed men, including those in RSF uniforms.
Source: @MM7rwan via Telegram
One of the armed men opens fire with an assault rifle into the group of detainees. Several individuals fall to the ground, while other detainees are seen being struck with whips by surrounding armed men.
Source: @MM7rwan via Telegram
Assessing the aftermath
CIR verified three additional videos showing what appear to be the bodies of the same group of detainees seen in the first three videos.
Video 4:
The first of these videos, posted on 27 April to a pro-SAF Telegram channel, shows a man filming himself before panning to at least 15 bodies in civilian clothing lying on the ground in front of him. Some of the bodies are bleeding and appear to have fresh wounds.
CIR geolocated this footage to Salha Road, at the same location where the detainees were last seen seated in the second and third videos.
Source: @sport6780 via Telegram
Video 5:
Two further videos, posted by a pro-RSF Telegram channel, show armed men, one of whom is wearing an RSF patch, celebrating in front of the same bodies.
Source: @marek55500 via Telegram
Video 6:
Two further videos, posted by a pro-RSF Telegram channel, show armed men, one of whom is wearing an RSF patch, celebrating in front of the same bodies.
Source: @marek55500 via Telegram
Clear visual matches were identified between two of the armed men and several of the bodies on the ground in videos 4, 5, and 6, and the individuals seen in the earlier footage of the detained civilians (videos 1, 2, and 3). The positions of the bodies on Salha Road also match the position of the detainees sitting on Salha Road in videos 2 and 3.
Lastly, shadow analysis confirms that the footage showing the bodies was captured after Video 1, which showed the detainees walking down the street, confirming a likely timeline of events.
Uniforms, insignia, and statements
CIR was able to verify the presence of RSF fighters in the videos showing the detention and shooting of individuals in civilian clothing on Salha Road in Omdurman on 27 April, based on the uniforms and insignia visible in the footage.
Sources: @Sudan_War via X (top left-right), @MM7rwan via Telegram (bottom left), @marek55500 (bottom centre-right)
Across all verified footage, CIR identified at least three visible RSF patches on the fighters’ uniforms, as well as several uniforms bearing patches and Sudanese flags that resemble RSF attire.
Sources: @Sudan_War via X (top left-right), @MM7rwan via Telegram (bottom left), @marek55500 (bottom centre-right)
CIR also identified the presence of armed individuals who appear to be in civilian clothing and not wearing clear RSF uniforms or insignia, but could not confirm their affiliation.
Source: @Sudan_War via X
Filmed statements also reveal indications about the group and the perpetrators of the Salha killings.
In Video 2, a man wearing a dark green camouflage uniform with a yellow RSF patch films himself with the detainees behind him. As he walks along Salha Road, he accuses the detained group of being affiliated with the Al Bara’a ibn Malik brigade, and threatens to use violence against them on the basis of their alleged affiliation, saying “I swear, we will beat them […] Beat them, beat them, [fuck their mothers] just beat them.” [Video shortened due to graphic nature of content].
Video 7:
In a separate video also posted by Sudan War Updates to X on the same day, a man is filmed riding a motorbike heading south towards the location where the bodies are seen on Salha road. He is also wearing a dark green camouflage uniform, and is heard taking collective responsibility for the killings, which he implies were committed in retaliation for alleged SAF killings of prisoners, saying: “[the SAF] are executing our people, and I swear we no longer [keep] prisoners. […] Are you happy now, RSF fans or not? (we are) … (here they are)”
Footage: @Sudan_War via X [Cropped due to graphic nature]
By matching both individual victims and likely perpetrators across the two sets of verified footage, CIR verified the likely sequence of events which culminated in the killing of several unarmed detained individuals in civilian clothing in Salha, and the involvement of men in RSF uniform.
RSF denies involvement
On 27 April, the official RSF Telegram channel published a statement to their official Telegram channel condemning the circulation of videos online showing the group of bodies.
The statement affirms that the individuals seen in the footage are not RSF-affiliated.
It further claimed that the incident took place in the Al Mohandiseen area, described as “an area of operational overlap between the RSF and the militias and battalions loyal to [Abdel Fattah] Al-Burhan, known for their extensive record of human rights violations, including the slaughter of civilians and the extrajudicial execution of detainees.”
Source: @RSFSudan via Telegram
Contrary to this statement, CIR confirmed that the videos were in fact captured in central Salha, which is approximately 9 km south of the claimed area of Al Mohandiseen, and involved men wearing RSF uniform and insignia. According to an article published by Radio Dabanga on 28 April, the Salha neighbourhood remained under RSF control at the time. On 25 April, Sudan Tribune also reported that the RSF was firing artillery from Salha while the SAF were advancing into Omdurman, suggesting the paramilitary group’s presence in the area prior to the incident.
Together, the verified footage, geolocation data, and identifiable insignia strongly indicate that RSF-affiliated fighters were present at the scene of the detentions and killings in Salha on 27 April 2025, contradicting official RSF statements and raising concerns about the conduct of forces operating under their command.