By Ashaye Bankole
In January 2024, Ahmed Abubakr Imam took up a rifle to defend his community.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had just seized four of the five states in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region South, East, Central, and West in a swift offensive as it pushed forward in its war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allies.
The RSF was now threatening to take North Darfur, leaving thousands of people like Imam in fear.
He knew that the largely nomadic often labelled “Arab” RSF had a notorious record of abducting and raping women and girls, as well as carrying out extrajudicial killings of men and boys from predominantly sedentary “non-Arab” communities.
Like many non-Arabs in North Darfur, Imam joined the Popular Resistance, neighbourhood defence groups supported by the SAF.
“The RSF militia clearly doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters,” the 27-year-old told Foreign Media.
Since full-scale civil war broke out between the SAF and the RSF in April 2023, the RSF has almost fully secured its stronghold in Darfur.
Both sides have committed serious abuses, but the RSF has been accused of additional atrocities including genocide and systematic sexual violence by United Nations experts and both local and international monitoring groups.
In April 2024, the RSF placed a devastating blockade on el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where about 260,000 people are trapped and suffering from severe hunger.
Many women, children, and some men have managed to flee to Tawila, a town roughly 45 miles (70 kilometres) to the east, which is struggling with its own deadly cholera outbreak.
Because of the severe hunger in el-Fasher, Yousef said some families including children, women, and the elderly risk their lives every day to reach Tawila.
He acknowledged that it is far too dangerous for men of fighting age, including himself, to attempt an escape.
“The RSF is targeting all young men trying to leave the city, so most are staying, despite the starvation and hardship in el-Fasher,” Yousef said.
“Maybe their families can try to flee, but for young men, it’s simply too dangerous.”
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