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The volunteer nurse Nawal Khalil had been working as a nurse over a three-year period in the El Fasher South medical facility when the city was taken over on Sunday by the RSF fighters. She was occupied with patient care, including an elderly woman who needed a blood transfusion, when the attack began.

“Six injured soldiers were killed along with civilians in their beds – among them female victims,” she recounts. “I am unaware of the fate regarding my other patients. I had to run after they raided the medical facility.”

The 27-year-old Khalil, was hit by a bullet in her right foot and her thigh as RSF fighters took control of the nearby military headquarters. She fled the city and journeyed by foot for 24 hours, wounded and without nourishment, to get to the settlement of Garney. “Along the route, they seized my mobile and money,” she says. “I possessed nothing remaining.”

Over a thousand individuals – featuring females and minors – walked for two days to get to the settlement of Tawila in North Darfur after fleeing El Fasher, which was seized after a year-and-a-half-long siege.

Tawila, around 55 kilometers to the west of El Fasher, is governed by of the Sudan Liberation Army faction under Abdul Wahid Mohamed al-Nur's leadership.

On Tuesday, the 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 said that visual evidence showed featuring numerous unarmed males who were shot or found dead, with RSF militiamen around them.”

Background Context

Hostilities commenced in Sudan's capital back on April 15, 2023 when an intensifying power struggle between the two main factions of the military regime finally turned deadly.

Among the combatants exist the official Sudanese army, which maintain general loyalty to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation's actual leader. Opposing him are the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a gathering of armed factions that obey the former warlord General Dagalo, referred to as Hemedti.

The RSF was initially founded by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir himself as an Arab counterinsurgency militia named the Janjaweed, which quickly became synonymous with massive human rights violations. In 2013, Bashir reformed the faction to become the RSF, deploying them to crush a recent insurrection in South Darfur.

The conflict has plunged Sudan into among the most severe humanitarian crises in contemporary history, based on UN statements. It has produced the planet's biggest displacement catastrophe, forcing more than 10 million persons within the country plus 4 million who escaped to bordering states, generating growing stress on both Chad and South Sudan.

Ongoing Developments

Based on eyewitness accounts, many additional civilians remain trapped by the RSF and allied militias within Garney, south-west of El Fasher. Several are previous army members belonging to the Sudanese military, the collaborative forces plus additional armed factions that were previously aligned with the military. Reports indicate they're imprisoned since they cannot pay extortion payments between five and ten million Sudanese pounds (£6,000 to £12,000), based on survivor accounts who reached Tawila. People who cannot afford payment remain imprisoned for several days, and sometimes let go solely after developing critical health conditions.

The SLA-AW has apparently permitted military personnel escaping El Fasher to access Tawila provided they give up their weapons.

A man named Adam Yagoub, aged 28, a chauffeur from Sennar from central Sudanese regions, narrowly escaped being killed after being captured by three camel-riding militiamen in the Garney vicinity.

“They planned to decapitate me with a knife,” he recounts, showing his arm, which one of the fighters hit using an AK-47 rifle butt. “Subsequently one identified me – his brother was my colleague – and begged them not to kill me. We were 18 people who departed El Fasher collectively, however just eight arrived in Tawila. I think the others are dead.”

Yagoub states he witnessed 22 deceased individuals in proximity to what he termed a “fake well” used by the RSF and allied militias between Garney and Tawila. “It represents a trap,” he comments. “Individuals travel all day lacking water, and upon arriving there, the militiamen await. They murdered 22 males at that location and carried the bodies off to hide them.”

Another nurse who escaped El Fasher South hospital after the attack on Sunday stated RSF combatants came in through one gate and began shooting at patients in the ER section, causing at least eight fatalities. “We fled through another gate, however they struck my head with a rifle,” he says.

In a video statement on Wednesday, the head of the RSF, General Dagalo, called Hemedti, declared that any fighter or official who breached the rights of any civilian would be punished.

Many of those who escaped El Fasher spent hours concealing themselves near military artillery before running west under cover of darkness. Previously displaced households from the city’s Abu Shouk camp were compelled to relocate again, taking asylum in the Daraja Oula district before eventually heading for Tawila.

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