Survivors from El Geneina: Harrowing Stories of War, Flight, and Atrocities
By Amal Yahya, El Geneina (Shabakat I’lamiyat – Women’s Media Network)
El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, has long been scarred by violence, mass displacement, and repeated massacres. Yet, survivors say the horrors that began on April 15, 2023, were the most brutal the city had ever endured. Women who fled the city recount chilling stories of killings, sexual violence, and the desperate struggle to survive.
“My daughter died on my back as we fled”
M. Abkar, a resident of El Geneina’s “Schools Neighborhood,” recalls the morning the war erupted:
“On April 15, the city seemed calm. Both the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had promised not to fight in El Geneina. But soon I heard the familiar sounds of gunfire—something we had lived through before in Darfur.”
She and her family fled toward the Chadian border, carrying her twin daughters and her elderly father. Along the way, they passed corpses of men, women, and children. A shell exploded near them: “When I regained my senses, I was covered in blood. My father’s hand was blown off. My daughter on my back was badly wounded. Hours later, she died without me realizing she was taking her last breaths.”
At the border, armed men attacked them. “They killed the men and boys before our eyes, saying, ‘Any Masalit man must die—this city will be ours.’ What happened in El Geneina was nothing short of ethnic cleansing.”
“They shot my husband and son in front of us”
Marwa Mohammed, a mother of four from Customs Neighborhood, recounts hiding with her family:
“Gunmen stormed our home, forced us into the yard, and shot my husband and 15-year-old son in front of me and my daughters. They demanded money and gold, beat us, and shot my 10-year-old daughter in the leg.”
She added that women were directly involved in looting and assaults. “They took jewelry, mocked us, and celebrated while the men killed and raped. I had to leave the bodies of my husband and son behind as I fled with my daughters.”
A massacre in Ardamata
Fatima Abkar, a teacher from Ardamata, describes how RSF forces and allied militias besieged the area after the killing of West Darfur’s governor in June 2023.
“Ardamata was surrounded on all sides. When they attacked, they killed men and boys in the streets, filmed their brutality, and raped many women, including my underage daughter. They mocked us, saying: ‘Where are your men now, while we rape you?’ Most of them were drunk. It was pure horror.”
Fatima walked four days with her surviving family to reach Adré in Chad. Her father was killed, her younger brother went missing, and her traumatized daughter still screams in the night.
“I was pregnant when they tied me up and beat me”
Human rights activist Maryam Abdullah recalls:
“I was six months pregnant when RSF fighters tied me with a rope and beat me with sticks. I saw women raped in public, bodies strewn in the streets. I lost my husband, my son, and my cousin who was nine months pregnant—they all disappeared. I fled to Chad on foot, enduring insults like ‘slaves’ and ‘Masalit dogs.’ When we arrived, there was no shelter, food, or medical care. My entire life has become grief and struggle.”
International reports confirm atrocities
The UN Human Rights Office has documented testimonies from survivors in Adré, Chad, confirming that RSF and allied militias hunted down civilians fleeing El Geneina, killing men and boys on the roads.
Adam Mohammed Regal, head of Darfur’s displaced and refugee camps coordination, estimates that women may represent 70% of survivors due to mass killings of men.
Survivors describe widespread atrocities: killings, rape, arson, abductions, and torture. Many women now live with severe trauma in camps in Chad under extremely harsh conditions.
Deep psychological scars
Dr. Mona Rahmatullah, a psychiatrist, notes that survivors from El Geneina exhibit serious psychological disorders:
“Many suffer from PTSD, intrusive flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and deep depression, often leading to suicidal thoughts. Children who lost parents suffer night terrors, bedwetting, speech problems, and social phobia.”
She stresses that these are not only war crimes but also long-lasting wounds on the mental health of an entire community.
- This report is published by the Sudan Media Forum and its member organizations, prepared by Shabakat I’lamiyat – Women’s Media Network, to shed light on the grave violations committed against civilians in El Geneina, West Darfur—particularly against women—the devastating impact on their lives and mental health, and the extent to which they have, or have not, received support.
