El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, is one of the biggest hells today. After more than 500 days of siege, the town succumbed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting Sudanese forces. At the end of October, after months of offensives, paramilitary groups took control of the city and massacred the population, including armed attacks, rapes of women and girls, and constant shooting of civilians. Communications failures have made it difficult to confirm the death toll, but the United Nations estimates that nearly 500 people died at the Saudi maternity hospital in El Fasher alone. And Sudanese authorities say the death toll after the takeover could exceed 2,000.
Shayna Lewis, a human rights consultant with Avaaz, an NGO specializing in Sudan, calls the El Fasher massacre “the most predictable genocide on earth.” “In one week the RSF executed so many civilians that the land of El Fasher has changed,” he told EL PAÍS via video conference. “Liters of blood staining the Earth can be seen from space.”
The Humanitarian Research Laboratory (HRL) at the Yale School of Public Health analyzed the situation in El Fasher in late October. Satellite images included in the latest report show RSF vehicles, some carrying weapons, as well as human-sized objects and reddish dirt on the ground near the vehicles. The analysis center estimated the civilian death toll at 10,000.
Survivors of the attack, currently sheltering in the Tawira IDP camp, 60 kilometers west of El Fasher, shared their testimonies at the conference. All names used in survivor testimonies have been changed to protect their identities.
Amira, a mother of four, fled El Fasher towards Colma, about 40 kilometers northwest. The road was long and “full of corpses,” he says. The family witnessed the murder with no one to help. “We woke up shaking with fear. The images of the massacre haunted us,” Amira said at a recent press conference hosted by Avaaz. RSF members took her and her children hostage, and “they wouldn’t let us leave the country until we paid them 1 million Sudanese pounds (approximately 1,500 euros) each.” They arrived in Tawira stripped of all their belongings. “We walked over thorns for about 10 hours.”
Another El Fasher survivor, Mohammed, was working in the cafeteria of the Saudi Maternity Hospital, the last remaining medical facility in the kingdom, at the time of the attack. he ran away. On his way to Tawila, the militia thoroughly inspected him along with his companions. “[RSF]even inspected children’s diapers and sanitary napkins.” He remembers being repeatedly beaten and humiliated. They also have to walk for hours hungry and thirsty.
Hawa, a widow and mother of two children aged 2 and 12, is eight months pregnant. After her husband’s murder, she decided to leave the capital. All his belongings had been stolen. In her case, the militia itself took her to Tawila. “I don’t know anything about El Fasher’s family,” he lamented at a press conference. “Winter is almost here and we need organizations to help by bringing blankets, clothing and water containers.”
Ruiz said RSF’s repeated transfers of civilians from El Fasher to Taouira have been questioned by humanitarian workers. Experts have identified three patterns: killing civilians, taking them to Tawila camp, or deporting them to unknown locations. In the latter case, the treatment they received and their fate are unknown.
Deng Xiaoping departed on the first day of the final assault on the capital. He remembers the militia gathering several people, including himself, to do a live broadcast boasting about the good treatment they provided civilians. But shortly before that, the militia had stripped them of all their belongings. The man also recalled being attacked by drones from the SAF, the Sudanese military he suspected of being part of. “[RSF]always said there were no civilians left in El Fasher, we were all SAF soldiers,” he explains.
Kamisa said the days when the capital was under siege were memorable, saying, “I couldn’t find anything to eat for the past two days.” Militia took his son and 100 other minors. “I told them that I was sick and that I was suffering from anemia. I begged them to take him back,” he says. The next day she was transferred to Tawila. He never saw his son again.
Abu lost two children to RSF bombings, one of whom died at home. The market where he worked was also bombed. Bags of animal food were sold there for several days, becoming the only food source available to residents. He was taken hostage and had to call a friend to meet the militia’s demand for 1 million Sudanese pounds (1,500 euros). After his release, it took him three days to reach Tawira, walking “exhausted”.
Sexual violence and unaccompanied children
Data remains scarce due to the outage of communications networks, but the information available to experts in the field is alarming. Adam Rohal, spokesperson for the General Coordination Authority for Displaced Persons and Refugees, said: Among those arriving from El Fasher to Darfur’s last safe haven, Tawira camp, “we recorded 150 cases of sexual violence, 1,300 cases of gunshot wounds and 750 unaccompanied children.”
Natalia Romero, spokesperson for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in North Darfur, assured that the flow of people remains important, saying in an audio note: “It is very difficult to estimate the number of people who have arrived, but there is no official body that does a tally, but the number ranges from 5,000 to 15,000.” UN access to RSF-controlled areas remains restricted.
Last August, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that around 260,000 people were still living in El Fasher. Romero said the number of arrivals in Tawira was “very low.” However, this is of great concern to workers on the ground, as it indicates that many civilians have died or remain in the controlled city. “It’s a bloody tragedy,” says an MSF worker.
Humanitarian aid experts are also concerned about the impact of war on young people. Francesco Lanino, deputy director of Sudan programs and operations at the NGO Save the Children, is concerned about the increasing number of child soldiers. The increase is already being detected and, if not addressed, threatens to prolong the war. Unless a ceasefire is achieved and there is definite stability in the region, Mr. Lanino regrets, his team will not be able to intervene.
At a separate press conference in Madrid last Friday, Suza Abdelaziz Kamil Abdelaziz, Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in Spain, reiterated the Sudanese government’s “determination” for a “just and impartial peace” in the country, but like Ruiz, he criticized the international community’s reluctance. He asserted that the government would only negotiate with militias if they “relinquish arms and submit to the authority of the state.”
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