‘They murdered civilians while they slept’: mayhem and cruelty prevail following fall of El Fasher
A nurse named Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a healthcare worker for three years in the El Fasher South medical facility when the city was seized last Sunday by RSF paramilitaries. She was actively caring for the sick, among them an older female patient requiring a blood transfusion, when the offensive started.
“They murdered six wounded military personnel along with civilians in their beds – some of them women,” she states. “I don’t know what happened for my remaining patients. I needed to escape when they stormed the hospital.”
Khalil, aged 27, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and her thigh during the RSF's seizure of the nearby military headquarters. She escaped from the city and walked for a day, hurt and lacking sustenance, to arrive at Garney town. “During the journey, they seized my mobile and cash,” she says. “I was left with nothing.”
In excess of 1,000 persons – featuring females and minors – walked for two days to get to the settlement of Tawila in North Darfur after fleeing El Fasher, which was seized following an 18-month blockade.
The town of Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west from El Fasher, is governed by of the SLA-AW group commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.
Last Tuesday, the collaborative Joint Forces – that cooperate with the Sudanese army – accused the RSF with murdering over 2,000 civilians since the fall of the city. United Nations officials stated there were videos depicting dozens of weaponless men either being shot or deceased, surrounded by RSF fighters.”
Historical Background
Hostilities commenced in Sudan's capital during April of 2023 as an escalating power struggle involving the two key groups within the military government ultimately became violent.
On one side stand the Sudanese military forces, which maintain general loyalty to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto head of state. Opposing him exist the irregular troops belonging to the RSF, an assembly of militia groups who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti.
The RSF was initially founded by the former dictatorial ruler Bashir's regime as a pro-Arab counterinsurgency force known as the Janjaweed, that rapidly became associated with extensive brutalities. Back in 2013, Bashir reformed the faction into the Rapid Support Forces, sending them to suppress a recent insurrection in South Darfur.
The war has pushed Sudan into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in modern times, based on UN statements. It has created the globe's most severe displacement emergency, dispersing over 10 million individuals internally and 4 million who have fled into neighbouring countries, creating increasing strain upon Chad and South Sudan.
Ongoing Developments
Per observer reports, many additional civilians stay confined by RSF forces and partner militias in the Garney area, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members belonging to the Sudanese military, the allied Joint Forces plus additional armed factions that were previously aligned with the military. They are reportedly being held as they lack funds for ransom requests ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (approximately £6,000-£12,000), per those who escaped who arrived in Tawila. People who cannot afford payment remain imprisoned for several days, and occasionally let go solely after becoming gravely ill.
Reports suggest the SLA-AW has authorized army soldiers running from El Fasher to access Tawila provided they give up their weapons.
Adam Yagoub, 28, a motorist originating from Sennar within central Sudan, barely avoided execution after being captured by three camel-riding militiamen in the Garney vicinity.
“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he recounts, exhibiting his limb, that one combatant struck with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Afterward one remembered me – his brother was my colleague – and pleaded with them to spare me. There were 18 of us who departed El Fasher collectively, but only eight made it to Tawila. I assume the others died.”
Yagoub says he witnessed 22 deceased individuals in proximity to what he termed a fraudulent water source utilized by RSF forces and partner armed groups in the area connecting Garney and Tawila. “This is an ambush,” he explains. “Persons journey daily without hydration, and when they get to it, the armed groups lie in wait. They killed 22 men there and removed the corpses to obscure them.”
An additional nurse who ran from South El Fasher hospital subsequent to Sunday's offensive reported RSF militiamen penetrated via one entrance and opened fire on patients within the emergency department, murdering no less than eight. “We fled through another gate, yet they assaulted my head using a rifle,” he states.
Through a video declaration this past Wednesday, the RSF commander, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti, declared that any fighter or commander who infringed upon the rights of any civilian would be punished.
Several people who got away El Fasher spent hours concealing themselves near military artillery prior to escaping westward during nighttime. Already displaced families originating from the urban Abu Shouk settlement were compelled to relocate again, finding shelter in Daraja Oula area before finally moving toward Tawila.
Individuals seized by the RSF within Garney reportedly received {water mixed with flour|flour