Tawila, August 07 (Darfur24)
Around 30 bodies, believed to be civilians who died while fleeing El Fasher, have been discovered along the road linking El Fasher and Tawila in North Darfur State, according to local sources.
Sources told Darfur24 that the bodies were found by residents collecting firewood near Mount Sirati, about five kilometres east of Tawila. The residents alerted forces of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nur, who are stationed in the area.
According to the sources, the movement’s forces instructed displaced people to bury the bodies in a mass grave two days earlier. The remains were reportedly in an advanced state of decomposition and dehydration after being exposed to the elements for an extended period.
The sources believe the victims may have died while attempting to flee El Fasher following the Rapid Support Forces’ capture of the Sixth Infantry Division headquarters in late October. Their identities have not been established.
The El Fasher–Tawila road has become one of the most dangerous escape routes in North Darfur, with thousands of civilians using it to flee fighting in search of safety.
Earlier this year, humanitarian and human rights organizations warned that the route had become a “corridor of silent death,” saying hundreds of civilians had died along the journey due to armed attacks, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, amid the absence of safe passage and limited humanitarian access.