Lost the baby, rescue the child and hide from air strikes in the Sudanese civil war

Alawia Babiker, 19, fled a devastating war that undermined Darfur in western Sudan.

“I'm bleeding,” she told the BBC, in an anxious to add that she saw “worse” people on a traumatic three-day walk from the surrounded El-Fasher to the small town of Tawila.

Alawia avoids air strikes and militias after a miscarriage, and she and her family meet a baby who crys for her mother, who dies on the roadside.

Alavia said she took the child and took him away: “We covered our mother and kept moving forward.”

Since the outbreak of the battle between the Army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) in April 2023, Sudan has been devastated by civil war, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 12 million people forced to flee their homes.

Darfur has always been a major flash point, and the RSF controls much of the region – except for El-Fasher’s city is in the hands of the army and its allies.

El-Fasher was bombed violently when the RSF tried to catch it. In April, it announced a plan to form a government to compete with the government established by the military and feared that it would lead to a partition in Sudan.

Alavia said she and her family were forced to flee Tawila, west of El-Fasher, as the bombing intensified last month.

Her brother Marwan Mohamed Adam, 21, told the BBC that he was attacked by gangs from RSF allies along the way, including being “beaten on my neck, arms and legs” and robbed a few items he was carrying.

Marwan added that his life was simply because he lied to the gang.

He said the attackers took it and “execute” the young men, who revealed they were from El-Fasher, so when he was questioned, he claimed he was from Shaqra, a stopover to Tawila.

“You feel scared and feel dead,” the 21-year-old told the BBC, who saw three bodies on the way.

Another woman, Khadija Ismail Ali, told the BBC that “the bodies were scattered in the streets”.

She said 11 members of her family were killed during the shelling of El-Fasher and three children died on a four-day journey from the city to Tavira.

“The kids long for death along the way,” Kadiha said.

Her family’s village, El-Tarkuniya, was attacked by RSF militias last September, who stole the harvest.

They fled to the famined Zamzam camp, then to El-Fasher, and now to Tawila.

Medical charity Alima said the gunmen occupied most of the families’ land and farms when they attacked the village.

It added that severe malnutrition, especially among children arriving in Tavira, reached a shocking level.

Alavia said her sister gave up the small food they carried when she encountered air strikes and shelling after escaping Shaqra.

“That’s the beans left over from the small amount of salt we carry in our hands to feed the kids,” she said.

If there was no food or water, they trekked and met a woman who told them that they could find water in a nearby village.

After midnight, the family set out to the village, but they hardly knew they had walked into an area controlled by RSF fighters.

“We greeted them, but they didn't answer. They told us to sit on the ground and they searched for our belongings.”

The warrior took away £20,000 ($33; £24), which the family still owns, as well as the clothes and shoes they carry.

“My shoes are not good, but they still took them,” Alavia said.

She added that the RSF gunmen refused to give them water, so they all pressed the water until they reached the village of El-Koweim. There, they found a guarded by an RSF fighter.

“We should at least boil water for the isolated children, but they refused,” Alavia said.

Thirsty and exhausted, the family walked until they arrived at Tavira, where Alavia said she collapsed and was taken to the hospital.

She was discharged after treatment. Marwan was also treated for the injuries suffered during the assault.

Then they searched for relatives of the babies they rescued, found some of them and handed over the babies, Alavia said.

Alawia and her family now live in Tawila, and a family welcomes them into the home.

“Life is OK, thank God, but we are worried about the future,” Alavia told the BBC.

Ma Wan said he wanted to go abroad in order to continue his education and start a new life.

This is what millions of Sudanese do because their lives are destroyed by a war that shows no sign of ending.

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