Residents of El Fasher reported losing contact with relatives who fled the city amid recent fighting, with many children separated from their families and elderly people left behind without care.
The RSF seized control of the 6th Infantry Division headquarters in El Fasher after nearly a year and a half of siege.
Atif Ishaq, whose extended family went missing, told Darfur24 that nine of his relatives — including his parents, three brothers, and four sisters — disappeared last Friday, and their fate remains unknown. Witnesses reportedly saw his father in the city after RSF forces took over, but there has been no further information on the rest of the family.
A volunteer in the Qarni area north of El Fasher said thousands of displaced people are stranded while trying to reach Tawila or Mellit, fearing RSF abuses along the routes. Many have been detained or harassed during their escape attempts.
He added that the displaced are suffering from acute shortages of food, water, and medical care, with large numbers of women, children, and the elderly among them. Many children have been separated from their parents, and some elderly and women left without support after families were scattered while fleeing.
According to estimates, 62,000 people fled El Fasher following the RSF’s takeover on October 26, while thousands remain stranded in Qarni under dire conditions. Refugees who reached Tawila reported to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that they endured killings, abductions, torture, and sexual violence along the way.
