‘They killed civilians in their beds’: disorder and violence dominate after taking of El Fasher

Nawal Khalil had been working as a nurse for three years within the South El Fasher hospital when the city was taken over on Sunday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She was busy treating patients, among them an older female patient requiring a blood transfusion, when the offensive started.

“They killed six wounded soldiers and civilians in their beds – some of them women,” she states. “I am unaware of the fate to my other patients. I was forced to flee after they raided the medical facility.”

Khalil, aged 27, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and upper leg as RSF fighters took control of the nearby military headquarters. She fled the city and journeyed by foot for 24 hours, wounded and without nourishment, to reach the town of Garney. “Along the route, they took my phone and cash,” she describes. “I was left with nothing.”

Over a thousand individuals – including women and children – traveled on foot for two days to reach the town of Tawila in North Darfur following their escape from El Fasher, which fell under control following an 18-month blockade.

Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west of El Fasher, is governed by of the SLA-AW group under Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur's leadership.

This past Tuesday, the Joint Forces – that cooperate with the Sudanese army – blamed the RSF for slaughtering in excess of 2,000 non-combatants after the city's capture. The UN reported that footage existed featuring numerous unarmed males being shot or lying dead, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Contextual Information

Fighting broke out within Khartoum on 15 April 2023 as a growing contest for power involving the two key groups of the armed forces leadership ultimately became violent.

From one perspective stand the Sudanese military forces, that stay mostly faithful to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Against him exist the irregular troops of the RSF paramilitary group, an assembly of militia groups who follow the former warlord General Dagalo, called Hemedti.

The Rapid Support Forces were first created by the previous authoritarian leader Bashir's regime as an Arab anti-rebellion militia named the Janjaweed, that rapidly became associated with massive human rights violations. In 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the RSF, sending them to suppress a recent insurrection in southern Darfur.

The war has pushed Sudan into a terrible humanitarian disaster in contemporary history, as per UN representatives. It has generated the globe's most severe displacement emergency, scattering more than 10 million people within the country along with 4 million refugees to adjacent nations, creating increasing strain upon Chad and South Sudan.

Current Situation Updates

According to witnesses, many additional civilians remain trapped by the RSF and allied militias in the Garney area, southwest from El Fasher. Numerous are ex-military personnel belonging to the Sudanese military, the collaborative forces and other armed groups that were previously aligned with the military. They are reportedly being held as they lack funds for ransom demands of between 5m and 10m Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), based on survivor accounts who arrived in Tawila. People who cannot afford payment have been detained for days, and sometimes let go solely after becoming gravely ill.

The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed military personnel escaping El Fasher to access Tawila on condition they surrender their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, aged 28, a driver from Sennar in central Sudan, narrowly escaped being killed after being captured by three armed men mounted on camels near Garney.

“They wanted to cut my head off with a blade,” he tells, showing his arm, which one of the fighters hit with the butt of an AK-47 rifle. “Subsequently one identified me – his brother had worked with me – and pleaded with them to spare me. There were 18 of us who left El Fasher together, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I assume the others died.”

Yagoub reports 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’s a trap,” he explains. “People walk all day without water, and upon arriving there, the armed groups lie in wait. They murdered 22 males at that location and removed the corpses to obscure them.”

A different medical worker who fled the El Fasher South medical facility subsequent to Sunday's offensive stated RSF combatants came in through one gate and commenced firing upon patients in the emergency ward, causing at least eight fatalities. “We fled through another gate, however they struck my head using a rifle,” he states.

Via a recorded message last Wednesday, the RSF commander, General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, said that any soldier or commander who infringed upon the rights of any person” would be held accountable.

Many of those who escaped El Fasher utilized hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before fleeing west during nighttime. Previously displaced households originating from the urban Abu Shouk settlement were compelled to relocate again, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before finally moving toward Tawila.

Those captured by the RSF in Garney were apparently provided {water mixed with flour|flour