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A nurse named Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a nurse over a three-year period within the South El Fasher hospital after the city fell seized last Sunday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She was busy treating patients, including an elderly woman requiring a blood transfusion, when the attack began.

“They killed six wounded soldiers plus civilian patients in their beds – including some women,” she says. “I am unaware of the fate regarding my other patients. I had to run when they stormed the hospital.”

The 27-year-old Khalil, received a gunshot wound to her right foot and her thigh as RSF fighters took control of the adjacent military command center. She ran from the urban area and traveled on foot for one day, injured and without food, to arrive at Garney town. “On the way, they confiscated my phone and cash,” she explains. “I was left with nothing.”

In excess of 1,000 persons – comprising women and children – traveled on foot for two days to reach the town of Tawila within North Darfur after running from El Fasher, which was captured after an 18-month siege.

Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west from El Fasher, remains under the authority by the SLA faction commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

This past Tuesday, the allied Joint Forces – which partner with Sudan's military – charged the RSF of killing more than 2,000 civilians since the fall of the city. The UN reported there were videos featuring numerous unarmed males being shot or lying dead, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Historical Background

Conflict erupted in Sudan's capital back on April 15, 2023 as a growing contest for power between the two main factions within the military government finally turned deadly.

On one side stand the Sudanese military forces, which maintain general loyalty to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. Challenging him exist the irregular troops of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a gathering of armed factions who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti.

The RSF was originally established by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir himself as an Arab anti-rebellion militia known as the Janjaweed, that rapidly became associated with widespread atrocities. Back in 2013, Bashir reformed the faction into the Rapid Support Forces, using them to quell a recent insurrection within South Darfur.

The fighting has thrown Sudan into among the most severe humanitarian crises in recent history”, as per UN representatives. It has produced the world’s worst displacement crisis, forcing more than 10 million persons internally along with 4 million refugees into neighbouring countries, creating increasing strain on both 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. Numerous are ex-military personnel belonging to the Sudanese military, the Joint Forces and other militant organizations that were previously aligned with the military. Reports indicate they're imprisoned as they lack funds for ransom requests ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (around six to twelve thousand pounds), according to survivors who reached Tawila. People who cannot afford payment have been held for multiple days, and in some cases released only after falling seriously ill.

Reports suggest the SLA-AW has authorized government troops fleeing El Fasher to enter Tawila if they relinquish their arms.

Adam Yagoub, twenty-eight years old, a driver from Sennar within central Sudan, barely avoided execution subsequent to his seizure by three armed men mounted on camels near Garney.

“They wanted to cut my head off with a blade,” he recounts, showing his arm, which one militant assaulted with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Subsequently one identified me – his sibling had collaborated with me – and begged them not to kill me. Our group contained 18 individuals who exited El Fasher as a group, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub says he witnessed 22 deceased individuals close to what he described as a deceptive well employed by the RSF and allied militias along the Garney-Tawila route. “It represents a trap,” he explains. “People walk all day without water, and when they get to it, the militias are waiting. They slaughtered 22 men on that spot and removed the corpses to obscure them.”

An additional nurse who escaped El Fasher South hospital following Sunday's assault reported RSF militiamen penetrated through one gate and commenced firing upon patients in the ER section, murdering no less than eight. “We fled through another gate, however they struck my head with a rifle,” he says.

In a video statement this past Wednesday, the head of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti, declared that any fighter or commander who infringed upon the rights of any civilian would be punished.

Many of those who escaped El Fasher spent hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before running west under darkness's protection. Previously displaced households from the city’s Abu Shouk camp had to displace once more, finding shelter in Daraja Oula area prior to ultimately traveling to Tawila.

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