‘Civilians were slain in their beds’: mayhem and cruelty prevail following capture of El Fasher

A nurse named Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a healthcare worker over a three-year period in the El Fasher South medical facility as the city became captured 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 murdered six wounded military personnel along with civilians in their beds – among them female victims,” she says. “I don’t know what happened regarding my other patients. I needed to escape after they raided the medical facility.”

Khalil, aged 27, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and upper leg while RSF combatants gained control of the adjacent military command center. She escaped from the city and traveled on foot for one day, hurt and lacking sustenance, to arrive at Garney town. “On the way, they took my phone and money,” she says. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

In excess of 1,000 persons – featuring females and minors – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to reach the town of Tawila in North Darfur after fleeing El Fasher, which was seized after an 18-month siege.

The town of Tawila, around 55 kilometers to the west from El Fasher, is under the control of the Sudan Liberation Army faction commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

Last Tuesday, the Joint Forces – that cooperate with the Sudanese army – accused the RSF for slaughtering in excess of 2,000 non-combatants after the city's capture. The UN reported that visual evidence showed showing “dozens of unarmed men either being shot or deceased, surrounded by RSF fighters.”

Historical Background

Hostilities commenced in Khartoum back on April 15, 2023 as a growing contest for power between the two main factions within the military government eventually resulted in fatalities.

From one perspective are the Sudanese armed forces, who remain broadly loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Opposing him exist the irregular troops belonging to the RSF, a gathering of armed factions which support the ex-warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The Rapid Support Forces were first created by the former dictatorial ruler Bashir's regime as a pro-Arab counterinsurgency force named the Janjaweed, which soon became linked with widespread atrocities. During 2013, Bashir converted the organization into the RSF, deploying them to crush a fresh rebellion within South Darfur.

The war has pushed Sudan into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”, based on UN statements. It has created the world’s worst displacement crisis, forcing more than 10 million persons internally along with 4 million refugees to bordering states, creating increasing strain on Chad and South Sudan.

Current Situation Updates

Based on eyewitness accounts, many additional civilians remain trapped by the RSF and allied militias in the Garney area, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members from the Sudanese army, the collaborative forces and other militant organizations which had been combatting together with the army. They are reportedly being held since they cannot pay extortion payments between five and ten million Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), per those who escaped who arrived in Tawila. Individuals incapable of paying have been detained for days, and in some cases released only after becoming gravely ill.

The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed army soldiers running from El Fasher to access Tawila provided they give up their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, twenty-eight years old, a driver from Sennar in central Sudan, closely avoided death subsequent to his seizure by three militiamen on camels in the Garney vicinity.

“They intended to behead me with a blade,” he recounts, showing his arm, which one of the fighters hit with the butt of an AK-47 rifle. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother had worked with me – and pleaded with them to spare me. We were 18 people who departed El Fasher collectively, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I think the others are dead.”

Yagoub says he observed 22 corpses in proximity to what he termed a deceptive well utilized by RSF forces and associated militias along the Garney-Tawila route. “This is an ambush,” he explains. “Persons journey daily without hydration, and when they get to it, the militiamen await. They murdered 22 males at that location and took the bodies away to hide them.”

Another nurse who escaped El Fasher South hospital after the attack on Sunday said RSF fighters entered via one entrance and began shooting at 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.

Via a recorded message this past Wednesday, the leader of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or officer who had “violated the right of any person” would be held accountable.

Several people who got away from El Fasher passed hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before fleeing west during nighttime. Previously displaced households from Abu Shouk camp in the city were compelled to relocate again, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before finally moving toward Tawila.

Individuals seized by the RSF in Garney were apparently provided {water mixed with flour|flour