Horror images show civil war massacre visible from space as famine grips war-torn regions

The level of bloodshed in Sudan is visible from space as bodies pile up from an unprecedented slaughter in the war-torn African country. Surrounded by a sand barrier built during an 18-month siege, most of the 250,000-strong population of El-Fasher, western Sudan, has been trapped as paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have rampaged through the city. In the past week, experts estimate that tens of thousands have been killed.

Satellite images paint a harrowing picture of the door-to-door mass killings, which saw over 2,000 killed in just 48 hours last week, in the Darfur region. The Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at the Yale School of Public Health says they observed numerous clusters with discolouration around them, consistent with the appearance of human bodies across the city as RSF advanced. The apparent masses were seen in a hospital, all over residential neighbourhoods, on the outskirts of the city and by military bases of the opposing Sudanese armed forces (SAF). To make matters worse, two regions of the warring country are now enduring a famine that is at risk of spreading to other areas.

Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights and war crimes investigator at the HRL, said he observed "an explosion of objects that measure between 1.3 to 2 meters proliferate all over the ground," which the research team concluded is human bodies due to the length, shape and videos from the ground showing alleged systematic civilian killings.

"In Daraja Oula - a neighborhood where civilians have been hiding - we're seeing a tactical posture on the vehicles that is highly consistent with house-to-house killing," Mr Raymond told ABC News.

The research lab also observed disintegration around these objects, which they concluded was blood, further confirmed by the presence of RSF military vehicles, which were always spotted nearby. These piles have since grown and none of the original objects have moved, Mr Raymond added.

On the outskirts of El-Fasher, HRL Yale also said they observed multiple clusters appearing between October 26 and October 27, consistent with reports of civilians being killed as they tried to flee.

Famine is occurring in El-Fasher and the town of Kadugli in the southern South Kordofan province, according to a new report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. It is also threatening 20 other areas in Darfur and central Sudan's Kordofan region, where fighting has intensified in recent months, according to the IPC, the leading international authority on hunger crises.

"This is a man-made emergency, and all steps needed to prevent further catastrophe are clear," the IPC wrote in its report.

During the 18-month siege, the RSF cut off much of the food and other supplies to the residents. Last week, the paramilitary group seized the city, which stood as the military's last major holding in the Darfur region. The paramilitary forces have also besieged Kadugli town for months, trapping tens of thousands more.

El-Fasher and Kadugli have experienced "a total collapse of livelihoods, starvation, extremely high levels of malnutrition and death," the IPC added.

The new IPC report said about 375,000 people have been pushed into famine in Darfur and Kordofan as of September, while another 6.3 million people across Sudan face extreme levels of hunger.

The IPC have confirmed famine on only a few occasions, most recently in northern Gaza earlier this year during Israel's campaign against Hamas.