‘They murdered civilians while they slept’: disorder and violence reign after fall of El Fasher

Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a medical volunteer 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 requiring a blood transfusion, as the assault commenced.

“They murdered six wounded military personnel plus civilian patients in their beds – among them female victims,” she recounts. “The outcome remains unknown to my other patients. I had to run after they raided the medical facility.”

The 27-year-old Khalil, was shot in the right foot and her thigh while RSF combatants gained control of the closeby army headquarters. She ran from the urban area and traveled on foot for one day, injured and without food, to reach the town of Garney. “During the journey, they took my phone and money,” she explains. “I was left with nothing.”

In excess of 1,000 persons – including women and children – traveled on foot for two days to arrive at Tawila town in North Darfur following their escape from El Fasher, which was captured following an 18-month blockade.

The town of Tawila, approximately 34 miles westward away from El Fasher, is governed by of the Sudan Liberation Army faction led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur (SLA-AW).

On Tuesday, the allied Joint Forces – which partner with Sudan's military – accused the RSF with murdering over 2,000 civilians after the city's capture. United Nations officials stated that footage existed depicting dozens of weaponless men either being shot or deceased, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Contextual Information

Fighting broke out in Khartoum back on April 15, 2023 when an intensifying power struggle between the two main factions within the military government finally turned deadly.

From one perspective are the Sudanese armed forces, who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto head of state. Opposing him exist the irregular troops belonging to the RSF, a gathering of armed factions which support the ex-warlord General Dagalo, called Hemedti.

The RSF was initially founded by the ex-dictator Bashir's regime as an Arab counterinsurgency militia known as the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with extensive brutalities. In 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the Rapid Support Forces, sending them to suppress a new uprising within South Darfur.

The war has pushed Sudan into among the most severe humanitarian crises in contemporary history, as per UN representatives. It has generated the world’s worst displacement crisis, forcing more than 10 million persons within the country plus 4 million who escaped to bordering states, creating increasing strain on Chad and South Sudan.

Ongoing Developments

Per observer reports, many additional civilians stay confined by RSF forces and associated armed groups in Garney, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members from Sudan's armed forces, the Joint Forces and other militant organizations that were previously aligned with the military. They are apparently detained as they lack funds for ransom demands ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (approximately £6,000-£12,000), per those who escaped who made it to Tawila. Those unable to pay remain imprisoned for several days, and in some cases let go solely after developing critical health conditions.

The SLA-AW has apparently permitted military personnel escaping El Fasher to come into Tawila on condition they surrender their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, aged 28, a motorist originating from Sennar from central Sudanese regions, narrowly escaped being killed after being captured by three camel-riding militiamen near Garney.

“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he tells, showing his arm, which one militant assaulted with the butt of an AK-47 rifle. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother was my colleague – and begged them not to kill me. We were 18 people who exited El Fasher as a group, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub states he saw 22 bodies near what he called a deceptive well used by the RSF and allied militias between Garney and Tawila. “It’s a trap,” he explains. “Individuals travel all day lacking water, and when they get to it, the armed groups lie in wait. They killed 22 men there and removed the corpses to conceal them.”

An additional nurse who ran from South El Fasher hospital after the attack on Sunday reported RSF militiamen penetrated via one entrance and opened fire on patients in the ER section, causing at least eight fatalities. “We ran out via another entrance, but they hit me on the head using a rifle,” he recounts.

Via a recorded message this past Wednesday, the RSF commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or officer who had “violated the right of any civilian would be punished.

Many of those who escaped El Fasher spent hours concealing themselves near military artillery before fleeing west under cover of darkness. Families already uprooted from the city’s Abu Shouk camp had to displace once more, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before eventually heading for Tawila.

Individuals seized by the RSF in Garney were reportedly given {water mixed with flour|flour