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Nawal Khalil had been working as a healthcare worker over a three-year period at El Fasher South hospital as the city became captured on Sunday by RSF paramilitaries. She was actively caring for the sick, among them an older female patient who needed a blood transfusion, when the offensive started.

“Six injured soldiers were killed plus civilian patients in their beds – among them female victims,” she says. “I am unaware of the fate regarding my other patients. I needed to escape after they raided the medical facility.”

Khalil, 27, was shot in the right foot and upper leg as RSF fighters took control of the adjacent military command center. She fled the city and traveled on foot for one day, wounded and without nourishment, to arrive at Garney town. “On the way, they took my phone and money,” she says. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

Over a thousand individuals – including women and children – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to get to the settlement of Tawila located in northern Darfur after running from El Fasher, which fell under control after a year-and-a-half-long siege.

This settlement, about 34 miles (55km) west from El Fasher, remains under the authority of the Sudan Liberation Army faction commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

Last Tuesday, the Joint Forces – who are allied with Sudan’s army – blamed the RSF for slaughtering in excess of 2,000 non-combatants after the city's capture. The UN reported there were videos featuring numerous unarmed males either being shot or deceased, surrounded by RSF fighters.”

Historical Background

Conflict erupted in Sudan's capital during April of 2023 as a growing contest for power involving the two key groups within the military government finally turned deadly.

Among the combatants stand the Sudanese military forces, who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. Challenging him stand the paramilitary forces of the RSF paramilitary group, a collection of militias that obey the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The RSF was originally established by the ex-dictator Bashir's regime as an Arab anti-rebellion militia known as the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with widespread atrocities. During 2013, Bashir transformed the group to become the RSF, sending them to suppress a fresh rebellion in South Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into among the most severe humanitarian crises in contemporary history, based on UN statements. It has generated the planet's biggest displacement catastrophe, dispersing over 10 million individuals within the country along with 4 million refugees to adjacent nations, generating growing stress on both Chad and South Sudan.

Present Circumstances

Per observer reports, numerous more non-combatants stay confined by RSF forces and partner militias in Garney, in the southwestern direction from El Fasher. Several are previous army members from Sudan's armed forces, the Joint Forces and other armed groups that were previously aligned with the military. Reports indicate they're imprisoned since they cannot pay extortion payments ranging from 5 to 10 million Sudanese pounds (approximately £6,000-£12,000), according to survivors who made it to Tawila. Individuals incapable of paying have been detained for days, and sometimes let go solely after falling seriously ill.

The SLA-AW has apparently permitted government troops fleeing El Fasher to enter Tawila provided they give up their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, aged 28, a motorist originating from Sennar in central Sudan, closely avoided death subsequent to his seizure by three militiamen on camels near Garney.

“They intended to behead me with a knife,” he informs, displaying his arm, which one of the fighters hit with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother had worked with me – and begged them not to kill me. There were 18 of us who left El Fasher together, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I think the others are dead.”

Yagoub states he saw 22 bodies close to what he described as a deceptive well employed by the RSF and associated militias between Garney and Tawila. “This is an ambush,” he comments. “Persons journey daily without hydration, and when they reach it, the armed groups lie in wait. They killed 22 men there and carried the bodies off to conceal them.”

An additional nurse who ran from South El Fasher hospital following Sunday's assault said RSF fighters entered using one doorway and commenced firing upon patients in the emergency ward, murdering no less than eight. “We ran out via another entrance, however they struck my head with a firearm,” he says.

Through a video declaration last Wednesday, the leader of the RSF, General Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, declared that any fighter or officer who had “violated the right of any person” would be held accountable.

Several people who got away El Fasher spent hours hiding near the army’s artillery unit prior to escaping westward under cover of darkness. Previously displaced households from Abu Shouk camp in the city were forced to move again, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood prior to ultimately traveling to Tawila.

Individuals seized by the RSF within Garney reportedly received {water mixed with flour|flour