New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- A "campaign of destruction" in October by Sudanese paramilitary forces against non-Arab communities in and near a city in the western region of Darfur shows "hallmarks of genocide," U.N.-backed human rights experts said Thursday, a dramatic finding in the country's devastating war.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces - known as RSF and at war with the Sudanese military - carried out mass killings and other atrocities in the city of el-Fasher after an 18-month siege during which they imposed conditions "calculated to bring about the physical destruction" of non-Arab communities, in particular the Zaghawa and the Fur communities, the independent fact-finding mission on Sudan reported.

U.N. officials say several tho...