El Fasher, January 5 (Darfur24)
Residents returning to their homes in El Fasher, North Darfur, on Sunday said they discovered dozens of decomposing bodies under bridges and in the rubble of destroyed houses, likely killed by artillery shelling and gunfire.
Returnees began coming back after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of the city in late October, following an 18-month siege and clashes that killed thousands of civilians and displaced nearly one million people.
Several residents told Darfur24 that most of the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating they had died in recent weeks during battles in which the RSF captured the Sixth Infantry Division Command. Bodies were reportedly found under the nursery bridge leading to the livestock market and in the Valley neighborhood.
A resident in the Awlad Rif neighborhood said he found four bodies under the rubble of his house, destroyed last September. He suggested the dead were army personnel and their supporting forces, noting that the area had been a hotspot of violence before El Fasher fell.
The Awlad al-Reef neighborhood, one of the last densely populated civilian strongholds, witnessed ground battles, artillery shelling, and drone strikes before the RSF takeover. Another resident in the First-Class neighborhood said most houses near the airport and the university were destroyed, and seven decomposed bodies of people in civilian clothes were found, appearing to have tried to escape the attacks.
A health source close to the RSF told Darfur24 that more than 600 bodies were discovered at Saudi Hospital, including patients who had died from injuries due to a lack of medical care. The source said the hospital departments suffered extensive damage but had begun receiving patients again after volunteers cleared the bodies and cleaned the facility.