Starved and abused civilians have recounted harrowing stories after fleeing the paramilitary Fast Help Forces in western Sudan’s Darfur, whereas hundreds extra stay lacking.
The capital of North Darfur state was the final Sudanese military stronghold within the huge area earlier than falling to the RSF after 18 months of siege on Sunday.
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Since then, the United Nations and worldwide assist companies have raised the alarm over the destiny of civilians as accounts of mass killings, rape and different abuses proceed to emerge.
Alkheir Ismail, a younger Sudanese man who has fled to the city of Tawila, some 50km (31 miles) away, mentioned he was amongst a bunch of 300 individuals who had been stopped by RSF fighters as they tried to flee el-Fasher on Sunday. The fighters solely spared him as a result of one of many captors recognised him from his faculty days, he added.
“There was a younger man I studied with, within the college in Khartoum, he informed them, ‘Don’t kill him’. After that, they killed the remainder of the individuals, the youths with me and my pals.”
Different Sudanese in Tawila additionally described the concern they skilled after being stopped by fighters.
“Rapidly they confirmed up, from the place I don’t know. Three younger males confirmed up, totally different ages. They shot within the air, and mentioned, ‘Cease, cease’. They had been carrying RSF garments,” Tahani Hassan mentioned. “They hit us onerous. They threw our garments on the bottom. Even I, as a lady, was searched. The attacker, he might be youthful than my daughter.”
Fatima Abdulrahim, who fled together with her grandchildren, mentioned she walked for 5 days in brutal circumstances to achieve Tawila.
“They beat the boys and took every thing we owned; they left us with nothing. After we arrived right here, we realized that the women within the group that got here after us had been raped, however our women escaped,” she mentioned.
Rawaa Abdalla, a younger girl who fled town, mentioned her father is lacking.
‘We don’t know whether or not he’s alive or useless, whether or not he’s with the individuals who left or if he’s injured,” she mentioned.
In a speech on Wednesday evening, RSF head Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo referred to as on his fighters to guard civilians and mentioned violations can be prosecuted.
On Thursday, the paramilitary group, which has been preventing the Sudanese military since April 2023, claimed to have arrested a number of fighters accused of abuses, however UN humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher questioned the RSF’s dedication to investigating violations.
A high-level RSF commander referred to as the accounts “media exaggeration” by the military and its allied fighters “to cowl up for his or her defeat and loss” of el-Fasher, in response to Reuters information company.
Each the RSF and the military have confronted conflict crimes accusations over the course of the battle that has killed tens of hundreds of individuals, pressured some 14 million from their properties and created the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, in response to the UN. Famine is widespread whereas outbreaks of cholera and different lethal ailments are on the rise.
‘Killed, blocked, hunted down’
Greater than 62,000 individuals fled el-Fasher between Sunday and Wednesday, in response to the UN. As of late August, el-Fasher was nonetheless residence to 260,000 individuals.
In an announcement on Friday, Medical doctors With out Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) mentioned companies working on the bottom estimate that solely just a little over 5,000 individuals managed to make their option to Tawila over the previous 5 days.
“Primarily based on what sufferers inform us, the most definitely, albeit horrifying, reply is that they’re being killed, blocked, and hunted down when attempting to flee,” mentioned MSF head of emergencies Michel Olivier Lacharite, calling on mediators the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to intervene.
MSF mentioned each single youngster beneath 5 years previous, of the 70 new arrivals in Tawila on October 27, was acutely malnourished, with 57 p.c of them affected by extreme acute malnutrition.
Survivors informed the help company that RSF fighters separated individuals by gender, age or perceived ethnic id, with many remaining held for ransom, with sums starting from 5 million to 30 million Sudanese kilos (greater than $8,000 to almost $50,000).
One other survivor reported ugly scenes of RSF fighters crushing a number of prisoners with their automobiles, it mentioned.
We denounce the horrendous mass atrocities and killings, each indiscriminate and ethnically-targeted, which have culminated this week in and round El Fasher, Sudan.https://t.co/YGo84UxEn5
— MSF Worldwide (@MSF) October 31, 2025
The UN Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA), the organisation’s sexual and reproductive well being company, which gives humanitarian help in Tawila, spoke to extra survivors whereas defending their identities.
A 24-year-old man mentioned that of a bunch of 200 males, girls and youngsters, solely 4 individuals who may pay a ransom ended up surviving 4 totally different encounters with RSF troopers at checkpoints on the best way to Tawila.
“The remaining had been killed. They killed kids, the aged, and ladies. I can not describe the scene, it was insufferable to look at individuals die proper in entrance of you, every with a single bullet,” he was quoted as saying.
A 26-year-old girl mentioned her husband was solely capable of pay a ransom for her and their kids, and was killed in entrance of them. A 19-year-old lady mentioned she was raped by troopers after they requested if she was a virgin.
The UNFPA has additionally confirmed that at the very least 460 individuals had been killed by RSF fighters within the el-Fasher maternity hospital on October 29.
The precise demise toll could have been a lot increased, with sufferers, guests, displaced individuals and healthcare employees amongst these killed, it mentioned.
Extra killings in Kordofan
Within the close by state of North Kordofan, the UN estimates that greater than 36,000 individuals have fled the Bara locality, which was captured by the RSF final week.
The UN says North Kordofan is prone to be the subsequent battleground between the RSF and the Sudanese military, as state capital el-Obeid stays beneath military management.
“Studies are additionally rising of significant violations within the context of RSF seize of Barra city, together with the alleged abstract execution of 5 Crimson Crescent volunteers. Our human rights colleagues have additionally acquired alarming reviews of sexual violence,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres, informed reporters on Friday.
Mohammed Elsheikh, spokesperson for the Sudan Medical doctors Community, informed Al Jazeera from Manchester within the UK that individuals fleeing Bara are in very poor well being.
“It’s a lengthy stroll between Bara to el-Obeid metropolis, via very unsafe roads in very tough environmental circumstances. We’re speaking a desert, actually excessive temperatures through the day and intensely chilly climate at evening,” he mentioned.
Bara has been a scene of intense preventing between the military and the RSF, with the paramilitary group making advances in close by areas as effectively.
In July, RSF fighters descended on North Kordofan villages and burned them in an attack that killed nearly 300 individuals, together with kids and pregnant girls.
