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The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been serving as a healthcare worker over a three-year period at El Fasher South hospital after the city fell taken over on Sunday by the RSF fighters. She was busy treating patients, including an elderly woman in need of a transfusion, as the assault commenced.

“They killed six wounded soldiers along with civilians in their beds – including some women,” she says. “I don’t know what happened to 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 thigh as RSF fighters took control of the closeby army headquarters. She ran from the urban area and journeyed by foot for 24 hours, hurt and lacking sustenance, to get to the settlement of Garney. “On the way, they took my phone and currency,” she describes. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

More than 1,000 people – comprising women and children – traveled on foot for two days to arrive at Tawila town located in northern Darfur after running from El Fasher, which fell under control following an 18-month blockade.

This settlement, around 55 kilometers to the west from El Fasher, remains under the authority by the SLA faction led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur (SLA-AW).

Last Tuesday, the allied Joint Forces – which partner with Sudan's military – charged the RSF of killing more than 2,000 civilians following the urban center's takeover. United Nations officials stated there were videos depicting dozens of weaponless men either being shot or deceased, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Contextual Information

Fighting broke out within Khartoum during April of 2023 as a growing contest for power among the two primary factions of the military regime ultimately became violent.

Among the combatants exist the official Sudanese army, who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. Against him stand the paramilitary forces belonging to the RSF, an assembly of militia groups that obey the former warlord General Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The RSF was originally established by the previous authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir as a pro-Arab counterinsurgency force known as the Janjaweed, that rapidly became associated with widespread atrocities. In 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the Rapid Support Forces, using them to quell a fresh rebellion in South Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in contemporary history, as per UN representatives. It has produced the planet's biggest displacement catastrophe, forcing more than 10 million persons inside the nation plus 4 million who escaped into neighbouring countries, putting mounting pressure on Chad and South Sudan.

Current Situation Updates

Per observer reports, numerous more non-combatants continue to be held by the RSF and associated armed groups within Garney, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members from Sudan's armed forces, the Joint Forces and other militant organizations which had been combatting together with the army. Reports indicate they're imprisoned as they lack funds for ransom demands ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), per those who escaped who made it to Tawila. Individuals incapable of paying have been held for multiple days, and sometimes let go solely after developing critical health conditions.

The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed government troops fleeing El Fasher to access Tawila on condition they surrender their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, aged 28, a driver from Sennar within central Sudan, narrowly escaped being killed following his capture by three camel-riding militiamen close to Garney.

“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he tells, exhibiting his limb, that one combatant struck with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother had worked with me – and urged them not to execute me. We were 18 people who left El Fasher together, but only eight made it to Tawila. I assume the others died.”

Yagoub reports he witnessed 22 deceased individuals in proximity to what he termed a fraudulent water source utilized by RSF forces and allied militias between Garney and Tawila. “It’s a trap,” he comments. “People walk all day without water, and upon arriving there, the armed groups lie in wait. They murdered 22 males at that location and carried the bodies off to hide them.”

An additional nurse who ran from South El Fasher hospital after the attack on Sunday stated RSF combatants came in via one entrance and commenced firing upon patients within the emergency department, murdering no less than eight. “We escaped through a different gate, but they hit me on the head using a rifle,” he says.

Through a video declaration this past Wednesday, the head of the RSF, General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or official who breached the rights of any civilian would be punished.

Numerous individuals who fled El Fasher utilized hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before fleeing west during nighttime. Already displaced families from Abu Shouk camp in the city were compelled to relocate again, 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