‘Civilians were slain in their beds’: disorder and violence dominate after taking of El Fasher
The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a medical volunteer for three years in the El Fasher South medical facility after the city fell taken over on Sunday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She was occupied with patient care, featuring one senior woman in need of a transfusion, when the attack began.
“They killed six wounded soldiers and civilians in their beds – including some women,” she states. “I am unaware of the fate regarding my other patients. I needed to escape as they invaded the hospital.”
The 27-year-old Khalil, was shot in the right foot and thigh while RSF combatants gained control of the closeby army headquarters. She escaped from the city and journeyed by foot for 24 hours, wounded and without nourishment, to arrive at Garney town. “Along the route, they seized my mobile and money,” she describes. “I ended up with nothing.”
More than 1,000 people – featuring females and minors – traveled on foot for two days to reach the town of Tawila located in northern Darfur following their escape from El Fasher, which was seized after an 18-month siege.
The town of Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west of El Fasher, remains under the authority of the SLA-AW group commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.
Last Tuesday, the collaborative Joint Forces – who are allied with Sudan’s army – charged the RSF of killing more than 2,000 civilians after the city's capture. The UN said that footage existed depicting dozens of weaponless men being shot or lying dead, surrounded by RSF fighters.”
Historical Background
Fighting broke out in Sudan's capital back on April 15, 2023 when an intensifying power struggle involving the two key groups of the military regime finally turned deadly.
Among the combatants stand the Sudanese military forces, that stay mostly faithful to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Opposing him exist the irregular troops of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a gathering of armed factions which support the ex-warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The RSF was originally established by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir himself as a pro-Arab counterinsurgency force known as the Janjaweed, which soon became linked with extensive brutalities. In 2013, Bashir reformed the faction into the Rapid Support Forces, sending them to suppress a recent insurrection in South Darfur.
The conflict has plunged Sudan into a terrible humanitarian disaster in modern times, as per UN representatives. It has produced the planet's biggest displacement catastrophe, scattering more than 10 million people within the country along with 4 million refugees to adjacent nations, putting mounting pressure on Chad and South Sudan.
Current Situation Updates
According to witnesses, numerous more non-combatants remain trapped by the RSF and partner militias in Garney, in the southwestern direction from El Fasher. Numerous are ex-military personnel from the Sudanese army, the collaborative forces plus additional armed factions that were previously aligned with the military. Reports indicate they're imprisoned because they cannot afford ransom requests ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), according to survivors who made it to Tawila. Individuals incapable of paying remain imprisoned for several days, and occasionally let go solely after developing critical health conditions.
The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed government troops fleeing El Fasher to come into Tawila if they relinquish their arms.
A man named Adam Yagoub, twenty-eight years old, a motorist originating from Sennar in central Sudan, closely avoided death after being captured by three militiamen on camels near Garney.
“They intended to behead me with a knife,” he tells, displaying his arm, that one combatant struck with the butt of an AK-47 rifle. “Then one of them recognised me – his sibling had collaborated with me – and urged them not to execute me. We were 18 people who left El Fasher together, but only eight made it to Tawila. I think the others are dead.”
Yagoub states he witnessed 22 deceased individuals near what he called a “fake well” used by the RSF and partner armed groups in the area connecting Garney and Tawila. “It represents a trap,” he says. “People walk all day without water, and upon arriving there, the militias are waiting. They killed 22 men there and took the bodies away to obscure them.”
A different medical worker who ran from South El Fasher hospital following Sunday's assault reported RSF militiamen penetrated via one entrance and opened fire on patients within the emergency department, killing at least eight. “We fled through another gate, yet they assaulted my head with a rifle,” he states.
In a video statement on Wednesday, the RSF commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti, declared that any fighter or officer who had “violated the right of any civilian would be punished.
Several people who got away El Fasher utilized hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before fleeing west under cover of darkness. Already displaced families originating from the urban Abu Shouk settlement were forced to move again, taking asylum in the Daraja Oula district before eventually heading for Tawila.
Individuals seized by the RSF in Garney were apparently provided {water mixed with flour|flour