Survivors of the bloody takeover of El-Fasher walked for days through the desert, past bodies and armed men who humiliated them, desperate to escape the Sudanese city now overrun by paramilitary forces.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. 

The Israeli military said its troops killed two suspected militants in a town in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, while Palestinian officials accused Israeli settlers of setting fire to a mosque in the territory.Settler violence has surged in recent weeks across the West Bank, drawing international condemnation and even rare criticism from within the Israeli military and government.”A short while ago, IDF soldiers who were operating adjacent to the community of Karmei Zur, eliminated two terrorists who were on their way to carry out a terror attack,” the military said in a statement, without providing details.Palestinian authorities also did not provide any details.Meanwhile, the Ramallah-based Palestinian foreign ministry said Israeli settlers set ablaze the Hajja Hamida mosque near the town of Deir Istiya in the north.”This blatantly violates the sanctity of places of worship and reflects the deep-rooted racism driving settlers under the protection of the occupying government,” the ministry said.AFP photographs from the scene showed burnt copies of the Koran and walls blackened by smoke. A wall of the mosque was also graffitied.The Israeli military said that security forces were dispatched to the scene on Thursday following “a report and footage… regarding suspects who set fire to a mosque and sprayed graffiti.” In a statement, it said that no suspects were identified after a review of the incident, which was handed over to the Israeli police and security agency.”The IDF condemns any form of violence and will continue to operate to safeguard the security and order in the area,” it added.- ‘Red line’ -UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, with his spokesman saying that “such acts of violence and desecration of religious sites are unacceptable.””Such incidents are part of an increasing pattern of extremist violence that is inflaming tensions and must stop immediately,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.Thursday’s arson attack came a day after Israeli army chief pledged to halt settler violence.”We are aware of the recent violent incidents in which Israeli civilians attacked Palestinians and Israelis. I strongly condemn them,” Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a statement.”These acts contradict our values, cross a red line and divert the attention of our troops from their mission,” he warned.”We are determined to stop this phenomenon and will act decisively until justice is served.”Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where more than 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements.A minority of these Israelis engage in violence against Palestinians, who complain that Israeli forces usually do not arrest settlers.All settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.Earlier this month, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that October 2025 was the worst month for settler violence since it began recording in 2006, with at least 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.Violence has surged across the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.At least 1,003 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.