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In Sudan, paramilitary fighters have torn apart families and executed children in front of their parents as tens of thousands remain trapped in the devastated city of El-Fasher.
Fleeing survivors have recounted the atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who captured the city last week in one of the deadliest phases of the country’s two-year civil war.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters holding weapons and celebrating in the streets of El-Fasher in Sudan’s DarfurCredit: AFP
The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized El-Fasher in one of the deadliest episodes in the country’s two-year civil warCredit: AFP
Germany’s chief diplomat, Johann Wadephul, described the situation in Sudan as “apocalyptic,” while recent satellite images indicate that violence is likely still ongoing.
The RSF has been in conflict with the regular army since April 2023, expelling the military from its last stronghold in the vast Darfur region after a prolonged 18-month siege.
In just 48 hours, significant changes occurred, according to the Sudanese army’s Joint Forces.
Since the takeover, there have been reports of summary executions, sexual violence, and attacks on aid workers, while communications remain largely disrupted.
Zahra, a mother of six who fled El-Fasher to the nearby town of Tawila, stated: “I don’t know if my son Mohamed is dead or alive. They took all the boys.”
Before reaching the RSF-controlled town of Garni, she recounted how RSF fighters stopped them and took her sons, aged 16 and 20.
“I pleaded with them to let them go,” she said, but the fighters only released her 16-year-old son.
Another survivor, Adam, shared that two of his sons, aged 17 and 21, were killed before his eyes.
He recounted: “They told them they had been fighting for the army, and then they beat me on my back with a stick.”
In Garni, RSF fighters noticed the blood of Adam’s sons on his clothes and accused him of being a combatant. After hours of interrogation, they finally allowed him to leave.
For their safety, the full names of the survivors have been withheld.
Speaking in Bahrain on Saturday, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned “atrocities, mass executions, starvation, and the horrific use of rape as a weapon of war” in Darfur.
She expressed: “In Sudan right now, there is only despair.”
The UN reports that over 65,000 individuals have fled El-Fasher since Sunday, but tens of thousands still remain trapped.
Approximately 260,000 people were residing in the city before the RSF’s final assault.
A spokesperson from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that “large numbers of people” are in “great” danger.
“They are being blocked by the RSF and its allies from reaching safer areas,” they stated.
Sudanese residents gather to receive free meals in Al Fasher, a city besieged by RSFCredit: AFP
Women and children sitting at a camp for displaced people who fled from al-Fashir to Tawila, North Darfur, SudanCredit: Reuters
The group reported that only 5,000 people have managed to reach Tawila, located about 80 km (50 miles) west of El-Fasher.
However, according to MSF’s head of emergencies, Michel Olivier Lacharite, the numbers of people arriving in Tawila “don’t add up, while accounts of large-scale atrocities are increasing.”
Several eyewitnesses informed MSF that a group of 500 civilians, accompanied by soldiers from the military and the army-allied Joint Forces, attempted to flee on Sunday, but most were either killed or captured by the RSF and their allies.
Survivors reported that individuals were separated based on gender, age, or presumed ethnicity, and many are still being held for ransom.
Darfur is home to several non-Arab ethnic
