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The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been working as a nurse over a three-year period within the South El Fasher hospital after the city fell captured on Sunday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She was occupied with patient care, featuring one senior woman requiring a blood transfusion, when the attack began.

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

Khalil, 27, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and thigh during the RSF's seizure of the nearby military headquarters. She fled the city and walked for a day, wounded and without nourishment, to arrive at Garney town. “Along the route, they confiscated my phone and money,” she says. “I ended up with nothing.”

Over a thousand individuals – including women and children – journeyed by walking for 48 hours to arrive at Tawila town located in northern Darfur following their escape from El Fasher, which was seized after an 18-month siege.

The town of Tawila, approximately 34 miles westward from El Fasher, is governed by of the Sudan Liberation Army faction commanded by Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur.

This past Tuesday, the collaborative Joint Forces – that cooperate with the Sudanese army – charged the RSF for slaughtering in excess of 2,000 non-combatants after the city's capture. The UN reported that visual evidence showed showing “dozens of unarmed men who were shot or found dead, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Contextual Information

Conflict erupted within Khartoum back on April 15, 2023 when an intensifying power struggle involving the two key groups of the military regime finally turned deadly.

From one perspective are the Sudanese armed forces, who remain broadly loyal towards General al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. 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 Rapid Support Forces were first created by the ex-dictator Bashir's regime as an Arab anti-rebellion militia named the Janjaweed, that rapidly became associated with widespread atrocities. During 2013, Bashir converted the organization into the Rapid Support Forces, sending them to suppress a new uprising in South Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into a terrible humanitarian disaster in modern times, as per UN representatives. It has generated the world’s worst displacement crisis, dispersing over 10 million individuals within the country plus 4 million who escaped to bordering states, generating growing stress upon Chad and South Sudan.

Current Situation Updates

Per observer reports, numerous more non-combatants continue to be held by the RSF and partner militias within Garney, southwest from El Fasher. Several are previous army members belonging to the Sudanese military, the collaborative forces and other armed groups that were previously aligned with the military. Reports indicate they're imprisoned as they lack funds for ransom requests of between 5m and 10m Sudanese pounds (approximately £6,000-£12,000), according to survivors who made it to Tawila. People who cannot afford payment have been held for multiple days, and sometimes released only after becoming gravely ill.

The SLA-AW has reportedly allowed army soldiers running from El Fasher to access Tawila on condition they surrender their weapons.

Adam Yagoub, 28, a chauffeur from Sennar within central Sudan, closely avoided death after being captured by three militiamen on camels in the Garney vicinity.

“They intended to behead me with a blade,” he tells, showing his arm, that one combatant struck using an AK-47 rifle butt. “Then one of them recognised me – his brother had worked with me – and pleaded with them to spare me. Our group contained 18 individuals who departed El Fasher collectively, but only eight made it to Tawila. I believe the remainder perished.”

Yagoub states he witnessed 22 deceased individuals close to what he described as a “fake well” utilized by RSF forces and partner armed groups between Garney and Tawila. “It represents 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 obscure them.”

A different medical worker who ran from South El Fasher hospital subsequent to Sunday's offensive reported RSF militiamen penetrated using one doorway and commenced firing upon patients in the ER section, murdering no less than eight. “We ran out via another entrance, however they struck my head with a rifle,” he says.

Via a recorded message last Wednesday, the head of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti, declared that any fighter or officer who had “violated the right of any person” would be held accountable.

Numerous individuals who fled El Fasher utilized hours hiding near the army’s artillery unit before fleeing west under darkness's protection. Families already uprooted 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 within Garney reportedly received {water mixed with flour|flour