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The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been working as a nurse for the past three years at El Fasher South hospital when the city was seized last Sunday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She was actively caring for the sick, among them an older female patient who needed a blood transfusion, when the attack began.

“They killed six wounded soldiers and civilians in their beds – among them female victims,” she states. “The outcome remains unknown regarding my other patients. I needed to escape as they invaded the hospital.”

The 27-year-old Khalil, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and thigh while RSF combatants gained control of the nearby military headquarters. She ran from the urban area and traveled on foot for one day, hurt and lacking sustenance, to arrive at Garney town. “On the way, they seized my mobile and money,” she explains. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

In excess of 1,000 persons – including women and children – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to get to the settlement of Tawila in North Darfur after fleeing El Fasher, which was captured after a year-and-a-half-long siege.

Tawila, approximately 34 miles westward away from El Fasher, remains under the authority of the Sudan Liberation Army faction commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

This past Tuesday, the Joint Forces – which partner with Sudan's military – blamed the RSF with murdering over 2,000 civilians since the fall of the city. United Nations officials stated there were videos showing “dozens of unarmed men who were shot or found dead, surrounded by RSF fighters.”

Historical Background

Hostilities commenced in Khartoum on 15 April 2023 when an intensifying power struggle between the two main factions of the military regime ultimately became violent.

Among the combatants exist the official Sudanese army, who remain broadly loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Challenging him exist the irregular troops of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a gathering of armed factions that obey the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti.

The RSF was originally established by the ex-dictator Omar al-Bashir as an Arab counterinsurgency militia named the Janjaweed, which soon became linked with extensive brutalities. During 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the Rapid Support Forces, sending them to suppress a recent insurrection in South Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”, as per UN representatives. It has produced the globe's most severe displacement emergency, scattering more than 10 million people internally and 4 million who have fled into neighbouring countries, putting mounting pressure on Chad and South Sudan.

Present Circumstances

Based on eyewitness accounts, numerous more non-combatants stay confined by RSF forces and allied militias in Garney, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members belonging to the Sudanese military, the allied Joint Forces plus additional armed factions that were previously aligned with the military. They are reportedly being held because they cannot afford ransom requests ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), according to survivors who made it to Tawila. Those unable to pay remain imprisoned for several days, and sometimes freed only when falling seriously ill.

Reports suggest the SLA-AW has authorized government troops fleeing El Fasher to enter Tawila provided they give up their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, 28, a driver from Sennar in central Sudan, narrowly escaped being killed after being captured by three camel-riding militiamen in the Garney vicinity.

“They intended to behead me with a blade,” he informs, showing his arm, which one of the fighters hit with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Subsequently one identified me – his brother had worked with me – and urged them not to execute me. Our group contained 18 individuals who exited El Fasher as a group, but only eight made it to Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub says he witnessed 22 deceased individuals in proximity to what he termed a “fake well” used by the RSF and allied militias along the Garney-Tawila route. “It’s a trap,” he says. “Persons journey daily without hydration, and when they reach it, the militiamen await. They slaughtered 22 men on that spot and carried the bodies off to conceal them.”

A different medical worker who fled the El Fasher South medical facility after the attack on Sunday reported RSF militiamen penetrated using one doorway and commenced firing upon patients in the ER section, causing at least eight fatalities. “We fled through another gate, but they hit me on the head with a rifle,” he says.

Via a recorded message on Wednesday, the leader of the RSF, General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, declared that any fighter or official who breached the rights of any person” would be held accountable.

Several people who got away El Fasher utilized hours concealing themselves near military artillery prior to escaping westward under darkness's protection. Families already uprooted from the city’s Abu Shouk camp were forced to move again, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before eventually heading for Tawila.

People apprehended by RSF forces within Garney reportedly received {water mixed with flour|flour