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A nurse named Nawal Khalil had been serving as a nurse for three years in the El Fasher South medical facility after the city fell taken over on Sunday by the RSF fighters. She was occupied with patient care, featuring one senior woman who needed a blood transfusion, when the attack began.

“They killed six wounded soldiers along with civilians in their beds – some of them women,” she recounts. “I don’t know what happened for my remaining patients. I needed to escape after they raided the medical facility.”

The 27-year-old Khalil, was shot in the right foot and thigh during the RSF's seizure of the closeby army headquarters. She ran from the urban area and journeyed by foot for 24 hours, wounded and without nourishment, to get to the settlement of Garney. “During the journey, they seized my mobile and cash,” she explains. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

Over a thousand individuals – featuring females and minors – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to arrive at Tawila town located in northern Darfur after running from El Fasher, which was captured after an 18-month siege.

Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west of El Fasher, remains under the authority of the Sudan Liberation Army faction under Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur's leadership.

Last Tuesday, the collaborative Joint Forces – who are allied with Sudan’s army – accused the RSF of killing more than 2,000 civilians following the urban center's takeover. The UN reported that visual evidence showed showing “dozens of unarmed men who were shot or found dead, encircled by RSF combatants.”

Background Context

Fighting broke out within Khartoum on 15 April 2023 as a growing contest for power involving the two key groups of the armed forces leadership eventually resulted in fatalities.

From one perspective exist the official Sudanese army, which maintain general loyalty to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Against him stand the paramilitary forces of the RSF paramilitary group, an assembly of militia groups who follow the former warlord General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti.

The RSF was initially founded by the previous authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir himself as an Arab counterinsurgency militia known as the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with massive human rights violations. Back in 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the RSF, deploying them to crush a fresh rebellion in southern Darfur.

The fighting has thrown Sudan into among the most severe humanitarian crises in modern times, as per UN representatives. It has produced the world’s worst displacement crisis, scattering more than 10 million people internally plus 4 million who escaped into neighbouring countries, putting mounting pressure on Chad and South Sudan.

Current Situation Updates

Based on eyewitness accounts, many additional civilians remain trapped by the RSF and partner militias within Garney, in the southwestern direction from El Fasher. Many are former soldiers from Sudan's armed forces, the collaborative forces and other militant organizations which had been combatting together with the army. They are apparently detained because they cannot afford ransom requests of between 5m and 10m Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), according to survivors who reached Tawila. Those unable to pay have been detained for days, and in some cases released only after developing critical health conditions.

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

Adam Yagoub, 28, a chauffeur from Sennar within central Sudan, closely avoided death following his capture by three camel-riding militiamen near Garney.

“They planned to decapitate me using a knife,” he tells, displaying his arm, which one of the fighters hit with the butt of an AK-47 rifle. “Then one of them recognised me – his sibling had collaborated with me – and pleaded with them to spare me. There were 18 of us who departed El Fasher collectively, but only eight made it to Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub reports he observed 22 corpses in proximity to what he termed a deceptive well employed by the RSF and partner armed groups between Garney and Tawila. “It represents a trap,” he explains. “Persons journey daily without hydration, and upon arriving there, the militiamen await. They slaughtered 22 men on that spot and carried the bodies off to hide them.”

Another 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, causing at least eight fatalities. “We ran out via another entrance, but they hit me on the head with a rifle,” he recounts.

In a video statement last Wednesday, the leader of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or official who breached the rights of any person” would be held accountable.

Several people who got away El Fasher spent hours taking cover close to army artillery positions before fleeing west under cover of darkness. Previously displaced households from Abu Shouk camp in the city had to displace once more, 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