Report

Bodies on the Road: El Fasher–Tawila, the Journey of Death to Escape Death

Sudan Media Forum

Tawila, Sudan Tribune
Along the road linking El Fasher and Tawila in North Darfur, dozens of bodies lie scattered - civilians who never made it through their perilous flight for survival. Many perished from illness, hunger, or gunfire from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Travelers along this RSF-controlled route must abandon any hope of “safe corridors” for civilians. Men are often accused of belonging to the army or joint forces and executed on the spot. Women fall victim to sexual violence in its many forms, while children and the elderly die of hunger and thirst as they flee certain death inside El Fasher, according to multiple testimonies obtained by Sudan Tribune.

Since the beginning of 2025, the exodus from El Fasher has intensified as the RSF tightened its siege on the city, cutting off food and medicine for more than 15 months, and escalating its ground, artillery, and drone attacks. The worsening humanitarian and security conditions have driven thousands to seek safety elsewhere — but many never reach it.

A Journey of Death

“I didn’t know whether I would survive the journey with my children… I walked carrying one on my back and another by the hand, praying I wouldn’t collapse like those who fell along the road,” said Fatima (35), a mother of five who arrived exhausted in Tawila after fleeing El Fasher.

Fatima began her journey from Al-Thawra neighborhood in southern El Fasher after losing her husband in an RSF attack and running out of food as shells rained down.

“We left El Fasher with no food or water,” she told Sudan Tribune. “We walked for days under the blazing sun. I saw women faint from exhaustion and children screaming for water. Some couldn’t make it… we saw them fall one after another.”

Her voice trembled as she continued: “We passed by many bodies — men, women, and children whose families couldn’t bury them, leaving them out in the open. We survived, but we lost so much — our neighbors, our sense of safety, and a part of our hearts as we walked among the dead.”

Widespread Sexual Violence

On September 28, 2025, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported providing medical care to over 300 survivors of sexual violence in Tawila locality during May and June.

The organization collected harrowing testimonies from what displaced people now call “the road of death.”

A 17-year-old girl said, “We were beaten and raped on the road.” Another woman, 28, recounted, “Two men attacked me while I was carrying my baby. One threatened to kill him. He let me go after I begged, but they raped my sister.”

Dozens of Families Arrive Daily

The emergency center in Tawila — controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur — receives dozens of displaced families daily, including Fatima’s.

According to the center, 30 to 40 families arrive each day from El Fasher, most of them exhausted after days of walking without sufficient food or water. Some lost children or relatives along the way; others arrived trembling from what they had witnessed — including field executions, rape, and looting by RSF fighters and allied “Ta’sis” militias.

Hundreds of Bodies Scattered Along the Road

A member of the Tawila Emergency Room told Sudan Tribune that volunteer teams buried more than 30 bodies in just one week, many showing gunshot wounds. Other bodies remain unburied because insecurity and armed groups make access impossible.

Volunteers, he said, work in harsh conditions — without vehicles or enough burial bags to cover and inter the dead with dignity.

He estimated that at least 500 bodies lie along the road between El Fasher, Hilla al-Sheikh, and Tawila. Fleeing civilians face interrogation, torture, and beatings by RSF soldiers accusing them of affiliation with the army or allied forces.

According to survivors’ accounts, RSF units stationed along the road often forbid families from burying their dead and order them to move on. Witnesses said RSF fighters executed at least 60 young men by gunfire in September 2025 alone.

A Path of Horror

“We walked for days without food or water. I saw children collapse in front of us and we couldn’t help them,” said Adam, who fled Abu Shouk camp north of El Fasher with his family.

“We walked past bodies — some killed by thirst, others by bullets. I held my children’s hands, afraid they’d disappear from my grip. We reached Tawila alive, but we left our souls behind with those who couldn’t continue. We walked among the dead as if we were no longer human.”

Among the victims left unburied along the El Fasher–Tawila road were young men aged 25–30, who died after being forced to undergo unsafe blood transfusions, causing fatal complications.

Three survivors told Sudan Tribune that these procedures — conducted without medical tests or precautions — killed at least ten civilians in a short period.

Younis, a displaced man from Abu Shouk camp, said an RSF unit accompanied by an ambulance intercepted a group of fleeing civilians near Garni, west of El Fasher, on August 26.

“The soldiers beat us with whips, accusing us of being army soldiers trying to escape,” Younis recalled. “They forced six young men into the ambulance, where doctors drew large amounts of their blood without testing for type or compatibility.”

• This report, prepared by Sudan Tribune and published by the Sudan Media Forum and its member outlets, documents the tragedy of the so-called “Road of Death” between El Fasher and Tawila - where hundreds of civilians have perished from hunger, thirst, or RSF gunfire.
  Survivors recount horrific scenes of summary executions, sexual violence, and hundreds of unburied bodies left to decay in the open.
  Humanitarian groups and local emergency rooms confirm that dozens of exhausted families continue to arrive in Tawila every day, escaping one form of death only to confront another.