The Japan Times - 'Like a horror movie': 770 km of fear for those fleeing Sudan's El-Fasher

Several gave harrowing accounts to AFP, describing scenes of terror as nearly 100,000 people fled the last army stronghold in western Darfur after its fall to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26.

Now sheltering at Al-Dabbah refugee camp in Northern State, about 770 kilometres (480 miles) to the northeast, they say they saw bodies scattered on the roadside and endured hunger, thirst and repeated assaults -- a journey one described as "like a horror movie".

Local authorities say around 50,000 people have reached Al-Dabbah since the RSF besieged El-Fasher in May 2024.

Over more than two and a half years, the war between the RSF and Sudan's army has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million, creating what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Talks for a humanitarian truce remain stalled as both sides consolidate their territorial control and political legitimacy.

- 'Dead bodies' -

"We arrived here completely exhausted. We thought we were going to die," said Zahra Youssef, one of the survivors now sheltering in Al-Dabbah.

"There was no water, no food. The roads were impassable. It was desert.

"It took us 16 days to get here. Along the way, there were dead bodies, people lying in the streets.

"Everywhere we looked, we saw dead bodies."

- 'Like a horror movie' -

Hussein Mohamed, who fled the city with his family, described the journey as "inhuman".

"Just a kilometre outside El-Fasher, a man pointed a gun at us.

"Soon after, we found three men running in our direction. That's when the body searches and insults began."

"They searched the women horribly. One woman said, 'I have my period', but they ignored her.

"The roads were terrifying, terrifying because of the bodies. Bodies of people and children, along with their clothes, belongings and documents scattered across the street. It looked like a scene from a horror movie."

At a checkpoint, "they made us get out of our vehicles... They took nine young men, accusing them of being soldiers.

"They began torturing them. They kicked them in the head."

- 'As if we weren't human' -

Suleiman Mohamed said the paramilitary fighters stripped women and humiliated them.

"They touched the women, even taking off their undergarments," he said.

"They took phones, money, anything they could find. They searched us like we weren't human beings.

"We heard the worst insults, words you don't say to humans.

"We saw bodies of young men on the road. We don't know how they died. They took nearly all my money."

- 'They wanted to rape my sisters' -

Mohamed Adam, 12, fled with his mother and siblings.

"They didn't leave us alone," he said.

"They wanted to rape my sisters. My mother told them, 'Rape me instead, but not the girls.'

"Then, they threw stones at us as we ran away."

- 'Taking girls' virginity' -

For Mazaher Ibrahim, walking in a group offered little safety.

"When we girls walk together, we put henna on our hands even if we're not married," she said.

"The RSF prefer unmarried girls. They boast about killing and about taking girls' virginity.

"One of them said proudly, 'I am up to 40 girls'."

Those who survived the 770-kilometre trek now find themselves in overcrowded camps in northern Sudan, with little food or medical care.

Many have lost family members along the way and say they are haunted by what they saw.

T.Maeda--JT