Survivors from Sudan’s El-Fasher recount escape
Patients describe dire conditions and chaotic evacuation as city is captured by paramilitary forces.
At a clinic in Sudan’s North Darfur, where dozens of malnourished children lie on cots and men with bandaged wounds await surgery, survivors described a desperate escape from the city of El-Fasher following its capture last week by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
They are among up to 10,000 people who arrived in Tawila after fleeing El-Fasher, seeking medical treatment at the clinic run by international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).In addition to those who reached Tawila, more than 60,000 others are believed to have escaped El-Fasher according to the International Organization for Migration.
However, their exact whereabouts remain unclear.
It is estimated that up to 200,000 people may still be trapped within the city, based on the population estimates towards the end of the siege.Two patients at the MSF clinic provided harrowing accounts of the situation inside El-Fasher to a local journalist who has previously supplied verified information to Reuters.
Fatuma, entrusted with caring for three orphaned children after their parents and brother were killed by a drone strike while fetching food, described evacuating the city on a donkey cart with injured individuals just before its fall.
She encountered RSF soldiers on the road who confiscated all belongings.Abdallah recounted his escape during intense shelling and gunfire on the day of the takeover: "People left in chaos, carrying children, some in wheelbarrows, others on donkey carts or their feet".
He witnessed extensive destruction and estimated that over 1,000 bodies littered the evacuation routes.
Abdallah, awaiting surgery at MSF after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, exemplifies the widespread casualties among civilians trying to escape El-Fasher.
They are among up to 10,000 people who arrived in Tawila after fleeing El-Fasher, seeking medical treatment at the clinic run by international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).In addition to those who reached Tawila, more than 60,000 others are believed to have escaped El-Fasher according to the International Organization for Migration.
However, their exact whereabouts remain unclear.
It is estimated that up to 200,000 people may still be trapped within the city, based on the population estimates towards the end of the siege.Two patients at the MSF clinic provided harrowing accounts of the situation inside El-Fasher to a local journalist who has previously supplied verified information to Reuters.
Fatuma, entrusted with caring for three orphaned children after their parents and brother were killed by a drone strike while fetching food, described evacuating the city on a donkey cart with injured individuals just before its fall.
She encountered RSF soldiers on the road who confiscated all belongings.Abdallah recounted his escape during intense shelling and gunfire on the day of the takeover: "People left in chaos, carrying children, some in wheelbarrows, others on donkey carts or their feet".
He witnessed extensive destruction and estimated that over 1,000 bodies littered the evacuation routes.
Abdallah, awaiting surgery at MSF after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, exemplifies the widespread casualties among civilians trying to escape El-Fasher.