Kutum, October 31 (Darfur24)
Residents report that hundreds of displaced people fleeing El Fasher have arrived in Kutum, about 136 kilometers northwest of the North Darfur capital, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Sunday that they had seized control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, a move accompanied by widespread abuses against civilians, including extrajudicial killings, according to the UN Human Rights Commission.
Mustafa Yusuf, a resident, told Darfur24 that the displaced arrived in Kutum after a grueling four-day journey on foot. He said many reported that dozens of their relatives were missing inside El Fasher or along escape routes, adding that several, particularly children and the elderly, died during the journey.
Yusuf added that more than 200 families reached Kutum on Wednesday and Thursday, including many with sick or wounded members in urgent need of medical care, shelter, food, and clean water.
“Some of the displaced people are staying in schools, others in relatives’ homes, while some have gone to Kassab camp near the city,” he said.
Kulthum Ahmed Yahya, a resident of Abu Shouk displaced people’s camp, said she fled from the Dar Al-Arqam shelter center to Kutum after being forced to leave her injured sister and brother-in-law in El Fasher.
“I walked with my two children for more than three days through Mellit to Kutum,” she said, adding that villagers along the way offered small amounts of food and water until they reached safety.
Another survivor, Ibrahim Abubakr Ibrahim, said RSF fighters detained their group on the way to Kutum before an officer ordered the release of women, children, and the elderly, while others were held on accusations of belonging to the joint force or the Sudanese army.
“I left three of my sons in El Fasher and still do not know the fate of my daughter,” he told Darfur24.
Dozens of international and human rights organizations, along with several foreign ministries, have condemned the recent events in El Fasher and called for accountability, an immediate halt to hostilities, and the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors for civilians.
In a speech on Wednesday, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”, who also heads the Presidential Council of the Founding Alliance, pledged to investigate the events in El Fasher and bring those responsible to justice.