*Survivors describe escaping kidnap, torture, mass rape and killings*
*Road out of El Fasher littered with bodies*
TUE 4 NOV -- Survivors of the ongoing massacres in El Fasher told of the horrors they experienced as the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took full control of the North Darfur capital.
In a press conference convened yesterday by Avaaz, six survivors from El Fasher speaking live from the relative safe haven of Tawila, told of being targeted, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, looted and tortured by RSF fighters, and family members being killed.
Reports continue to arrive, including voice notes sent to Avaaz, describing massacres targeting civilians in El Fasher since the RSF took the famine-hit city on 26 October 2025 after more than 500 days of siege. All names of those quoted in this report have been changed or omitted to protect their identities.
Before getting to Tawila, Amira, a mother from El Fasher, initially fled to Korma, a town 40 kilometers northwest of El Fasher, and described a “devastating” scale of mass rape. "No one would help you,” she said. On their way out of El Fasher, her 15-year-old son saw RSF soldiers slaughtering men. “We wake up shivering from fear, images of slaughter haunt us," she said.
They were held for ransom by RSF soldiers. "They refused to let us go if we didn't pay as much as one million Sudanese pounds" (around $350 USD). Amira described the road from El Fasher to nearby Qarni as “covered with bodies”.
Mohammed was working in the cafeteria of Saudi Hospital - the only operational medical facility remaining in El Fasher. "There was daily shelling on the hospital." He was forced to flee. "On the road out of El Fasher, we were searched at RSF checkpoints. They would even search diapers and sanitary pads looking for gold and other valuables. They took everything from us, even our dignity."
Hawa, who is 8 months pregnant, described having to flee on foot, losing her husband, and having to care for their children alone, while starving, without any available medical care. “No one is helping us, organizations have to step up and help us.”
Will Davies, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said: "For over a year we've been warning about the RSF's impending atrocities in El Fasher, in the media and at the highest levels of the world's most powerful governments. Yet the world barely blinked. Governments have kowtowed to the UAE, despite ample evidence that the RSF has been armed to the teeth by the United Arab Emirates.
"Phone calls from world leaders to Abu Dhabi threatening economic and diplomatic consequences for the UAE, if the RSF doesn’t stop the massacres and let the UN and ICRC enter the city, will do a million times more to save lives in El Fasher than statements that express concern but set no consequences. Thousands are being slaughtered and the UAE has the power to end it."
Harrowing voice notes
Avaaz has received harrowing voice notes from civilians who managed to flee. One survivor said: "We suffered terribly on the day we left El Fasher, worse than anything we experienced even during the 2003 wars. We found ourselves in a large trench, surrounded.
“A large force attacked us with vehicles and they had many weapons and opened fire on us. We ran, some of us escaped, others were killed, and some people were burned in front of us. They want only people like them to remain in society. Any other person is to be wiped out."
Another described living under constant bombardment in El Fasher over the past few months. "Every house had a bunker, and the head of the family would dig it for everyone to hide inside. The bunkers were very hot and hard to stay in, with no air, but they gave some protection from the shells.
“Even so, the bunkers were not safe, some people died inside them. Even if you had money, there was no food. From morning to night, children cried from hunger."
One voice note describes the huge earthen wall built by the RSF, which surrounds the city. "We came upon very large, deep trenches or berm with supports. Once you enter you cannot get out easily - they are extremely deep. Some of our people were killed inside the trench... no less than one hundred."
The testimonies reveal a consistent pattern of looting by RSF fighters. In one voice note, a survivor said: "They took everything from us, even the slippers on our feet, and stripped us of our clothes. Right now, we have nothing at all. The clothes I’m wearing were given to me by someone who managed to bring extra.
“For days we had nothing to eat or drink. I left El Fasher and walked for a very long distance; the road was exhausting and difficult. I still don’t know where my family is."
Many said they couldn't believe they were alive. In one voice note, a survivor said: "The children fled alone, and the older mothers couldn’t get out. Fathers were killed, brothers kidnapped, and women were raped in front of us. At that point, you only think about how to survive. They were like monsters. We wished for death because we were so exhausted.
"People said to go toward Tawila, but we didn’t even know where that was or which direction to take. We were whipped and beaten. Our families were killed, and we have no news about the rest. We don’t know if they are dead or alive. Sometimes I wish they were dead, it’s better than being tortured. The suffering is unbearable, and I never want to witness such things again."
Deng fled El Fasher on October 26, the day the RSF took over the city. He said RSF fighters lined them up in front of cameras for a live broadcast where they talked about how well they are treating civilians. Shortly before the livestream, Deng said the fighters had forcibly taken all their belongings. He also described being targeted by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) drones on their way out of El Fasher in RSF cars.
At multiple RSF checkpoints Deng had to pass through, the RSF accused civilians of being SAF soldiers. "They would constantly say that there are no civilians left in El Fasher, all of you are SAF soldiers."
Mohammed, the hospital cafeteria worker, said: "Even disabled and injured people were not spared from RSF accusations and targeting, they would often say that injuries were caused by fighting with SAF."
Khamisa described life under more than 500 days of siege in El Fasher as “unbearable,” having to hide in bunkers while starving. "In the last two weeks we couldn't even find animal skin to eat.” She was separated from her son, who was taken by the RSF along with more than 100 other children. “I told them he suffers from anemia, I begged them to bring him back to me, but a day after they took him, they brought cars to take us to Tawila.
Abu Baker lost two of his children from RSF shelling in El Fasher. He was injured and had to move neighbourhoods multiple times, seeking shelter from the constant shelling, before fleeing to Tawila. “People need to understand that we have nothing here in Tawila. We need bathrooms, shelter, medicine and food. Our children need winter clothes.”
Adam Rojal, Spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced People and Refugees in Darfur in Tawila, described 'catastrophic human conditions' in El Fasher. "Most of the arrivals are victims of violence. We have documented 150 cases of sexual violence, 1300 cases of gun shots, and 750 children arriving to Tawila without their families.
"The situation needs immediate interventions. They need food, water, medicine, shelter and psychological support, especially for children who have lost their families. And we need support for our documentation efforts for future accountability. But most of all we need peace, we need a ceasefire and for the war to stop so we can recover.”
ENDS
Additional testimonies from those who fled El Fasher, in the form of voice notes and transcribed text, are available upon request.
The recording of yesterday's press conference is here.
Contact: sudan@avaaz.org for more information or interview requests.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is building an earthen wall around El Fasher to create a “kill box” and prevent civilians fleeing the besieged city, satellite imagery suggests.
People caught trying to smuggle food into the besieged city of El Fasher are being “executed on sight” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to one civilian.
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