Sudan War: El-Fasher Survivors Detail RSF Violence and Starvation
TAWILA, SUDAN – Newly arrived survivors of the besieged city of El-Fasher are recounting harrowing experiences of brutality and starvation under the control of the Rapid support Forces (RSF), as the conflict in Sudan intensifies. The accounts,gathered by the BBC at a clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Tawila,paint a picture of widespread violence,robbery,and a intentional blockade of essential supplies.
El-Fasher, which fell to the RSF on Sunday after an 18-month siege, had been relentlessly bombarded with artillery and air strikes during fierce fighting between the army and the paramilitary group. The cityS population endured a severe hunger crisis as the RSF blocked the delivery of aid and supplies. Hundreds of thousands have already been displaced, including a important wave in April when the RSF seized control of the Zamzam camp, a major haven for those fleeing previous rounds of violence.
yusra Ibrahim Mohamed, who recently fled El-Fasher after her husband, an artillery soldier with the Sudanese army, was killed in an attack, described a desperate escape. “My husband was in the artillery,” she said. “He was returning home and was killed during the attacks…We stayed patient. Then the clashes and attacks continued. We managed to escape.” She recounted traveling for three days, navigating artillery zones with guides who lacked details, and witnessing widespread intimidation. “If someone resisted, they were beaten or robbed. They would take everything you had. People could even be executed. I saw dead bodies in the streets.”
Medical personnel at the MSF clinic in Tawila are struggling to cope with the influx of casualties. Alfadil Dukhan, a medic working at the clinic, stated that approximately 500 new arrivals require urgent medical treatment. “Most of the new arrivals are elders and women or children,” he said.”The wounded are suffering, and some of them already have amputations. So they are really suffering a lot. And we are trying to just give them some support and some medical care.”
The situation in El-Fasher is the latest escalation in the conflict that erupted in Sudan in april 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The fighting has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing millions and pushing the country to the brink of famine. El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, held strategic importance, and its fall to the RSF raises fears of further violence and instability in the already fractured region. The city had become a refuge for those displaced by earlier fighting, now finding themselves once again forced to flee for their lives.
