Families separated, children killed as survivors flee Sudan’s ‘apocalyptic’ El-Fasher
PORT SUDAN: Survivors fleeing Sudan’s city of El-Fasher have described horrific scenes of children being executed and families torn apart, as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) cemented control after an 18-month siege, leaving tens of thousands trapped in what Germany’s foreign minister called an “apocalyptic” crisis.
Zahra, a mother of six, told AFP her teenage sons were taken by RSF fighters as she fled. “I don’t know if my son Mohamed is dead or alive. They took all the boys,” she said by satellite phone from Tawila. Another survivor, Adam, said two of his sons, aged 17 and 21, were killed in front of him.
The RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, the last army-held city in Darfur, has prompted reports of mass executions, sexual violence and kidnappings. The UN said more than 65,000 people have fled since Sunday, but tens of thousands remain trapped, with Doctors Without Borders warning that many may be “dead, captured, or in hiding.”
‘MASS KILLINGS CONTINUING’
Satellite analysis from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab identified at least 31 clusters of human bodies around El-Fasher between Sunday and Friday, concluding that “indicators that mass killing is continuing are clearly visible.”
The RSF, descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago, denied orchestrating mass killings but admitted to arresting several fighters for “abuses.”
UN officials say the conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people, creating the world’s largest humanitarian and hunger crisis.
El-Fasher’s fall gives the RSF control of all five Darfur state capitals, effectively splitting Sudan in two, as the army, backed by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, holds the north and east.
“The scale of the violence is truly horrifying,” said Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul. “Sudan today is facing the greatest humanitarian catastrophe on Earth.”
