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Nawal Khalil had been volunteering as a healthcare worker for three years at El Fasher South hospital after the city fell captured on 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 offensive started.

“They killed six wounded soldiers along with civilians in their beds – including some women,” she recounts. “The outcome remains unknown regarding my other patients. I needed to escape when they stormed the hospital.”

Khalil, 27, received a gunshot wound to her right foot and thigh during the RSF's seizure of the closeby army headquarters. She fled the city and traveled on foot for one day, injured and without food, to reach the town of Garney. “During the journey, they took my phone and currency,” she says. “I was left with nothing.”

Over a thousand individuals – comprising women and children – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to reach the town of Tawila in North Darfur after running from El Fasher, which fell under control following an 18-month blockade.

Tawila, about 34 miles (55km) west away from El Fasher, is governed by of the SLA-AW group commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

This past 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 either being shot or deceased, encircled by RSF combatants.”

Historical Background

Hostilities commenced within Khartoum on 15 April 2023 when an intensifying power struggle involving the two key groups within the military government ultimately became violent.

From one perspective exist the official Sudanese army, who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto head of state. Opposing him exist the irregular troops belonging to the RSF, a collection of militias who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemedti.

The RSF was originally established by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir as an Arab anti-rebellion militia named the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with extensive brutalities. In 2013, Bashir transformed the group into the RSF, sending them to suppress a recent insurrection in southern Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into a terrible humanitarian disaster in modern times, as per UN representatives. It has generated the planet's biggest displacement catastrophe, scattering more than 10 million people within the country along with 4 million refugees to bordering states, putting mounting pressure on both Chad and South Sudan.

Ongoing Developments

Based on eyewitness accounts, numerous more non-combatants stay confined by RSF forces and allied militias in Garney, southwest from El Fasher. Many are former soldiers belonging to the Sudanese military, the allied Joint Forces and other militant organizations that had been fighting alongside the army. Reports indicate they're imprisoned because they cannot afford extortion payments of between 5m and 10m Sudanese pounds (around six to twelve thousand pounds), according to survivors who arrived in Tawila. Individuals incapable of paying remain imprisoned for several days, and sometimes freed only when developing critical health conditions.

The SLA-AW has apparently permitted army soldiers running from El Fasher to come into Tawila provided they give up their weapons.

The individual Adam Yagoub, 28, a chauffeur from Sennar from central Sudanese regions, narrowly escaped being killed after being captured by three armed men mounted on camels in the Garney vicinity.

“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he tells, showing his arm, that one combatant struck with the stock of a Kalashnikov. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother was my colleague – and pleaded with them to spare me. Our group contained 18 individuals who left El Fasher together, yet merely eight reached Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub says he witnessed 22 deceased individuals near what he called a “fake well” utilized by RSF forces and partner armed groups along the Garney-Tawila route. “It represents a trap,” he comments. “People walk all day without water, and when they reach it, the militias are waiting. They slaughtered 22 men on that spot and took the bodies away to hide them.”

Another nurse who escaped El Fasher South hospital following Sunday's assault stated RSF combatants came in via one entrance and opened fire on patients in the emergency ward, causing at least eight fatalities. “We fled through another gate, however they struck my head with a rifle,” he says.

Through a video declaration this past Wednesday, the RSF commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, stated that any military personnel or officer who had “violated the right of any person” would be held accountable.

Numerous individuals who fled El Fasher spent hours taking cover close to army artillery positions prior to escaping westward under cover of darkness. Previously displaced households from the city’s Abu Shouk camp were forced to move again, seeking refuge in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood before finally moving toward Tawila.

People apprehended by RSF forces in Garney were apparently provided {water mixed with flour|flour