Witnesses report hundreds detained by Sudan’s RSF near El-Fasher with accounts of beatings, ransom demands and ethnic targeting
PORT SUDAN: Survivors have described mass detentions by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces near the recently captured city of El-Fasher.
Hussein, a young man from the area, recounted being rounded up with roughly 200 other men and boys by RSF fighters in Garni.
He explained they were beaten with sticks, called slaves, and given only one meal daily during their detention.
The RSF seized the strategic city of El-Fasher one week ago after an 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment.
Reports have since emerged of executions, sexual violence, looting, and abductions in the area where communications remain largely cut off.
Hussein described being locked inside a school building for four days before his release amid ongoing new arrests.
Darfur’s non-Arab ethnic groups, forming the majority population, have long been targeted by Arab militias.
The RSF traces its origins to the Janjaweed militia accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.
United Nations reports indicate more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher with tens of thousands remaining trapped.
Michel Olivier Lacharité of Doctors Without Borders questioned the whereabouts of missing people who survived months of famine and violence.
Satellite imagery analysed by Yale University showed activity consistent with displaced people in RSF-controlled Garni.
Abbas al-Sadek, a university lecturer, was among those detained and forced to arrange a $900 ransom payment for his release.
Zahra, a mother sheltering in Tawila, reported RSF fighters took her two sons aged 16 and 20.
She confirmed the younger son’s release but remains uncertain about her oldest son Mohammed’s fate.
Mohamed described seeing dead bodies and wounded people abandoned along the road to Garni.
He stated the RSF robbed them and detained young men travelling with their group.
Adam witnessed his two sons aged 17 and 21 killed before being detained himself because their blood stained his clothes.
He reported many others remain in captivity after his release following hours of interrogation.
Witnesses told MSF that detainees were separated by gender, age, and ethnic identity with many held for ransom.
One witness described horrific scenes including prisoners being crushed under vehicles.
MSF coordinator Sylvain Penicaud said many survivors in Tawila are traumatised and searching for missing relatives.
He noted many fleeing reported being targeted specifically because of their skin colour.
Penicaud expressed particular terror at hearing how people were hunted while running for their lives.
Both the RSF and Sudan’s army have faced war crimes accusations during the conflict.
The United States has previously determined that the RSF committed genocide in Darfur. – AFP
