Abdulqadir Abdullah Ali, a 62-year-old, suffered severe nerve damage in his leg during the prolonged siege of el-Fasher, a city in Sudan, due to a lack of access to medication for his diabetes.
Despite walking with a noticeable limp, the intense panic he experienced when Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters seized the city in the Darfur region overshadowed his pain as he fled.
“On the morning the RSF arrived, there was heavy gunfire and explosives,” he recounted.
“People were overwhelmed with fear, fleeing their homes in every direction – fathers, sons, daughters, all running.”
The fall of el-Fasher after an 18-month siege represents a particularly brutal chapter in Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
The BBC gained firsthand accounts from those who escaped by traveling to a tent camp in army-controlled northern Sudan. Authorities monitored the team throughout the visit.
The RSF has been engaged in conflict with the regular army since April 2023, when a power struggle escalated into full-blown warfare.
Capturing el-Fasher was a significant victory for the paramilitary group, effectively dislodging the army from its last stronghold in Darfur.
However, mounting evidence of mass atrocities has drawn condemnation internationally and sharpened the focus of American efforts to resolve the conflict.
Warning: This report contains details that some readers may find distressing.
Mr. Ali was found wandering the camp, located in the desert near al-Dabbah, approximately 770km (480 miles) northeast of el-Fasher.
He was in the process of registering his family for a tent.
“They [RSF fighters] were indiscriminately firing live ammunition at people – the elderly, civilians – emptying their weapons on them,” he stated.
“Some RSF members used their vehicles to run over anyone who appeared to still be breathing.”
Mr. Ali recounted running when possible, crawling, or hiding when danger drew too close. Ultimately, he reached the village of Gurni, a few kilometers from el-Fasher.
Gurni served as a primary destination for many fleeing the city, including Mohammed Abbaker Adam, a local official from the nearby Zamzam camp for displaced persons.
Mr. Adam had retreated to el-Fasher when Zamzam was overrun by the RSF in April and departed the day before the city’s capture in October.
He grew a white beard in order to look older, hoping to be treated more leniently.
“The road here was lined with death,” he stated.
“We witnessed people being shot directly in front of us, then carried away and discarded. The bodies of others lay unburied in the open, some for as long as two or three days.”
“So many people are scattered,” he added. “We have no idea where they are.”
While some undertook the long journey to al-Dabbah, others reached a humanitarian hub in Tawila, about 70km from el-Fasher.
Still others crossed into Chad. However, the UN reports that the whereabouts of less than half of the estimated 260,000 people who were in the city before its fall are currently known.
Aid agencies believe many remain close by, unable to escape due to danger, detention, or the cost of securing passage.
Mr. Adam corroborated widespread reports of sexual violence, stating that fighters also raped women.
“They would take a woman behind a tree or somewhere far away, out of sight, so that no one could witness it,” he said.
“But you could hear them cry, ‘Help me, help me.’ Afterwards, they would emerge and say, ‘They raped me.'”
Women make up the majority of the camp’s population, with many declining to provide their names to ensure the safety of those left behind.
A 19-year-old woman reported that RSF fighters at a checkpoint seized a girl from her group, forcing them to abandon her.
“I was terrified,” she stated. “When they took her from the car at the checkpoint, I feared they would take a girl at every checkpoint. But they just took her, and that was the end of it until we arrived here.”
She had traveled with her younger sister and brother. Their father, a soldier, was killed in battle. Her mother was not in el-Fasher when it fell.
The three siblings fled the city on foot with their grandmother, who died before they reached Gurni, leaving them to continue alone.
“We didn’t bring enough water as we underestimated the distance,” said the young woman.
“We walked and walked until my grandmother collapsed. I thought it might be due to a lack of food or water.
“I couldn’t find her pulse, and she never woke up. I found a doctor in a nearby village who came and said, ‘Your grandmother has departed.’ I tried to stay strong for my sister and brother, but I didn’t know how I would tell my mother.”
They were particularly concerned about their 15-year-old brother because the RSF suspected that fleeing men had fought with the army.
The boy recounted his ordeal at a checkpoint where all the young men were removed from vehicles.
“The RSF interrogated us for hours in the hot sun,” he explained. “They claimed we were soldiers – some of the older ones probably were.
“The RSF fighters stood over us, circled us, whipped us, and threatened us with their guns. I lost hope and told them, ‘Do whatever you want to me.'”
Ultimately, they released him after his 13-year-old sister told them that their father was dead and he was her only brother. He reunited with his mother at the camp in al-Dabbah.
Many witnesses described the RSF separating men of fighting age from older men and women.
This happened to Abdullah Adam Mohamed in Gurni, separating him from his three young daughters, aged two, four, and six. The perfume seller had been caring for them since his wife was killed in shelling four months prior.
“I entrusted my daughters to the women who were traveling with us,” he told the BBC. “Then the RSF arrived with large vehicles, and we [the men] feared we would be forcibly recruited. So, some of us ran and sought refuge in the neighborhood.”
“All night, I wondered how I would ever find my children again. I’ve lost so many people already – I feared losing them, too.”
Mr. Mohamed managed to escape, but others were not so fortunate. Mr. Ali recounted witnessing the RSF open fire on a group of men from a distance.
“They killed the men but spared the women, shooting all the men,” he told the BBC. “Many died, and we fled.”
Mr. Ali and Mr. Adam left Gurni on donkeys, traveling by night to the next village, Tur’rah.
Mr. Mohamed also reached Tur’rah, where he reunited with his daughters. From there, they took vehicles for the long drive to al-Dabbah.
Many arrived at the camp with nothing. Having left the city with almost no possessions, they had to pay bribes at checkpoints to proceed.
“The RSF fighters stripped us of everything: money, phones, even our nice clothes,” Mr. Adam said. “At each stop, they made you call your relatives to transfer money to your mobile phone account before allowing you to move on to the next checkpoint.”
The RSF stated to the BBC that it rejected accusations of systematic abuses against civilians.
“The specific allegations raised – looting, killings, sexual violence, or mistreatment of civilians – do not reflect our directives,” said Dr. Ibrahim Mukhayer, an adviser to RSF leader Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
“Any RSF member proven responsible for wrongdoing will be held fully accountable.”
He stated that the group believed the allegations of widespread atrocities were part of a politically motivated media campaign against them by what he described as Islamist elements within Sudan’s military-led administration.
The RSF has published videos to try to reshape the narrative, showing its officers greeting people fleeing el-Fasher, trucks bringing in humanitarian aid, and medical centers being reopened.
Mr. Mohamed told the BBC that RSF foot soldiers were more brutal when their officers were not present, while Mr. Adam dismissed what he described as attempts by the paramilitary group to improve its image.
“They have this strategy,” he said. “They will gather 10 or 15 people, give us water, and film us as if they are treating us nicely.
“Once the cameras are gone, they will start beating us, treating us very badly, and taking everything we have.”
Earlier this year, the US determined that the RSF had committed genocide in Darfur.
However, the Sudanese armed forces and its allied militias have also been accused of atrocities, including targeting civilians suspected of supporting the RSF and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
This particularly brutal chapter in Sudan’s devastating war has drawn the attention of US President Donald Trump. He has promised to become more directly involved in ongoing US efforts to broker a ceasefire.
For those who escaped el-Fasher, that seems a distant prospect. They have been repeatedly traumatized by the conflict and have no idea what the future holds.
But they are resilient. Mr. Ali had not heard of Trump’s sudden interest. He was focused on chasing officials to get permission to stay in the camp in a tent where, he said, “we can live and rest.”
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