Sudan's Al-Fashir: A City Under Siege and Its People's Struggle

In the town of Tawila, a clinic is bustling with activity. Children, thin and weak, lie on cots. Men with bandaged wounds wait for surgery. They are survivors from al-Fashir, a city that recently fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after an 18-month siege. Up to 10,000 people have fled to Tawila, seeking help from the international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

The Fall of Al-Fashir

Al-Fashir was the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region. The siege cut off food supplies, forcing people to eat animal feed. Witnesses report mass killings after the RSF takeover. Many residents are still missing.

Calls for Protection Amidst Accusations

The head of the RSF has called for the protection of civilians. However, rights groups and U.S. officials have accused the RSF of ethnic cleansing earlier in the conflict. The situation in al-Fashir was dire even before the fall. A global hunger monitor found that the city was experiencing famine.

Survivors' Stories

Fatuma, a survivor, shared her story. She cared for three orphaned children after their parents were killed in a drone strike. She escaped al-Fashir on a donkey cart, but RSF soldiers took everything she had. She managed to bring the youngest child, just 40 days old, to the MSF clinic.

Clinic Overwhelmed

The clinic in Tawila is overwhelmed. 170 children arrived unaccompanied, all malnourished. The clinic received almost 1,000 trauma cases. The last hospital in al-Fashir was under constant attack, leading to unstable fractures and infected wounds.

A Survivor's Escape

Abdallah, another survivor, escaped amidst intense shelling and gunfire. He saw over 1,000 bodies on the road. He was shot multiple times and is now awaiting surgery. The clinic has enough medical supplies, but water and latrines are scarce. Cholera has been a problem, with a new case recorded recently.