Tawila, November 5 (Darfur24)
Several displaced residents fleeing the city of El Fasher have shared accounts of severe hardship during their escape to the town of Tawila, about 55 kilometers away, saying they were subjected to looting and physical assault by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) along the way.
Darfur24 spoke to several displaced people who fled on foot after the RSF took control of El Fasher late last month.
Dar Al-Salam Mohamed Adam Suleiman said she and others were detained in the town of Korma, northwest of El Fasher, where they were denied food, and some were held for hours. She added that before leaving El Fasher, armed men robbed them in the Shuqra area, beating them and taking their money.
She explained that they were forced to walk for nearly four hours, carrying their belongings on their heads, to reach the village of Qarni, and then to Korma, before continuing to Tawila, a journey that lasted an entire day.
For her part, Ikhlas Adam Ishaq told Darfur24 that scenes of death and suffering marked the road.
“We saw many bodies scattered along the way,” she said. She added that they passed many wounded people but were unable to help them, and the fate of several of her missing relatives remains unknown.
“All our belongings were looted by the Rapid Support Forces,” she said. “We were beaten, and we arrived in Tawila with nothing but the clothes we were wearing.”
The RSF seized the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division in El Fasher after more than a year and a half of siege, capturing the last major Sudanese army stronghold in Darfur. The takeover followed the RSF’s control of most military garrisons in West, South, East, and Central Darfur throughout 2023.