‘Civilians were slain in their beds’: chaos and brutality dominate after capture of El Fasher
The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been serving as a nurse over a three-year period in the El Fasher South medical facility after the city fell seized last Sunday by the RSF fighters. She was actively caring for the sick, including an elderly woman in need of a transfusion, as the assault commenced.
“Six injured soldiers were killed plus civilian patients in their beds – including some women,” she says. “The outcome remains unknown to my other patients. I needed to escape when they stormed the hospital.”
Khalil, 27, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and upper leg during the RSF's seizure of the nearby military headquarters. She ran from the urban area and traveled on foot for one day, injured and without food, to arrive at Garney town. “Along the route, they confiscated my phone and currency,” she says. “I was left with nothing.”
More than 1,000 people – comprising women and children – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to arrive at Tawila town in North Darfur following their escape from El Fasher, which fell under control after a year-and-a-half-long siege.
The town of Tawila, approximately 34 miles westward of El Fasher, is under the control of the Sudan Liberation Army faction led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur (SLA-AW).
This past Tuesday, the Joint Forces – that cooperate with the Sudanese army – charged the RSF for slaughtering in excess of 2,000 non-combatants since the fall of the city. United Nations officials stated there were videos showing “dozens of unarmed men who were shot or found dead, encircled by RSF combatants.”
Historical Background
Conflict erupted in Khartoum during April of 2023 as a growing contest for power among the two primary factions within the military government eventually resulted in fatalities.
From one perspective are the Sudanese armed forces, that stay mostly faithful to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto head of state. Against him stand the paramilitary forces belonging to the RSF, an assembly of militia groups which support the ex-warlord General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti.
The RSF was initially founded by the ex-dictator Bashir's regime as a pro-Arab counterinsurgency force known as the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with widespread atrocities. Back in 2013, Bashir converted the organization into the RSF, deploying them to crush a fresh rebellion in southern Darfur.
The fighting has thrown Sudan into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”, based on UN statements. It has created the world’s worst displacement crisis, scattering more than 10 million people internally plus 4 million who escaped to bordering states, creating increasing strain upon Chad and South Sudan.
Present Circumstances
Per observer reports, thousands more civilians remain trapped by the RSF and associated armed groups within Garney, southwest from El Fasher. Several are previous army members from the Sudanese army, the allied Joint Forces and other militant organizations that were previously aligned with the military. They are reportedly being held because they cannot afford ransom requests of between 5m and 10m Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), per those who escaped who arrived in Tawila. Those unable to pay have been held for multiple days, and sometimes released only after becoming gravely ill.
The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed army soldiers running from El Fasher to enter Tawila on condition they surrender their weapons.
A man named Adam Yagoub, 28, a driver from Sennar from central Sudanese regions, narrowly escaped being killed subsequent to his seizure by three armed men mounted on camels close to Garney.
“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he recounts, exhibiting his limb, which one militant assaulted with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Afterward one remembered me – his sibling had collaborated with me – and pleaded with them to spare me. There were 18 of us who departed El Fasher collectively, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I think the others are dead.”
Yagoub states he witnessed 22 deceased individuals near what he called a “fake well” utilized by RSF forces and partner armed groups along the Garney-Tawila route. “It’s a trap,” he explains. “Individuals travel all day lacking water, and when they reach it, the militiamen await. They murdered 22 males at that location and took the bodies away to hide them.”
A different medical worker who fled the El Fasher South medical facility subsequent to Sunday's offensive stated RSF combatants came in via one entrance and commenced firing upon patients in the ER section, killing at least eight. “We ran out via another entrance, but they hit me on the head using a rifle,” he says.
In a video statement this past Wednesday, the head of the RSF, General Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or commander who infringed upon the rights of any civilian would be punished.
Several people who got away El Fasher spent hours hiding near the army’s artillery unit before running west during nighttime. Previously displaced households from Abu Shouk camp in the city had to displace once more, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before finally moving toward Tawila.
Individuals seized by the RSF within Garney reportedly received {water mixed with flour|flour
