Losing a baby, rescuing a child and dodging air strikes in Sudan's civil war

Aged just 19, Alawia Babiker Ahmed miscarried as she was fleeing on foot the devastating war that has ravaged Sudan's western region of Darfur. "I was bleeding on the way," she told the BBC, before hastening to add that she saw people who were "worse off" during her traumatic three-day walk of about 70km (45 miles) from the besieged city of el-Fasher to the small town of Tawila. Dodging air strikes and militiamen after her miscarriage, Alawia said she and her family came across an infant crying for his mother, who lay dead by the roadside. Alawia said she picked up the child and took him with her: "We covered the mother and kept going." Sudan has been wracked by a civil war since fighting broke out between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises with more than 12 million people forced to flee their homes. Darfur has been a major flashpoint, with the RSF controlling most of the region - except for the city of el-Fasher that has remained in the hands of the army and its allies. El-Fasher has come under intense bombardment as the RSF tries to seize it. In April it announced plans to form a government to rival the one established by the army, raising fears that it could lead to Sudan's partition. Alawia said that as the bombing intensified last month, she and her family were forced to flee and walk to Tawila, west of el-Fasher. Her brother, Marwan Mohamed Adam, 21, told the BBC that he was assaulted along the way by RSF-allied gangs - including being "beaten on my neck, arm and leg" and robbed of the few belongings that he was carrying. Marwan added that his life was spared only because he lied to the gangs about where he had come from. He said the attackers took away and "executed" young men who revealed they were from el-Fasher, so when he was interrogated he claimed that he was from Shaqra, a stopover on the way to Tawila. "You feel fear, you feel like you are already dead," the 21-year-old told the BBC, adding that he saw three bodies on the way. Another woman, Khadija Ismail Ali, told the BBC that "bodies were scattered all over the streets". She said 11 members of her family were killed during the shelling of el-Fasher, and three children died during their four-day journey from the city to Tawila. "The children died from thirst along the way," Khadija said. Her family's village, el-Tarkuniya, was attacked last September by RSF-allied militias, who stole their harvest. They fled to the famine-stricken Zamzam camp, and then to el-Fasher and now to Tawila. Medical charity Alima said the gunmen took the land and farms of most families when attacking villages. Severe malnutrition, especially among children arriving in Tawila, had reached an alarming level, it added. Alawia said her sister dropped the little food they were carrying while fleeing the air strikes and shelling that they encountered after passing Shaqra. "It was leftover beans with a little salt we had carried in our hands to feed the children," she said. Without food or water, they trudged on and met a woman who told them they could find water in a nearby village. The family set off after midnight for the village, but little did they know that they were walking into an area controlled by RSF fighters. "We greeted them, but they did not answer. They told us to sit on the ground and they searched our belongings," Alawia recalled. The fighters took the 20,000 Sudanese pounds ($33; £24) that was all the family still had, along with the clothes and shoes that they were carrying. "My shoes weren't good, but they still took them," Alawia said. She added that the RSF gunmen refused to give them water, so they all pressed on until they reached el-Koweim village. There, they spotted a well guarded by RSF fighters. "We asked for water for at least the orphaned child, but they refused," Alawia said, adding that she tried to push her way to the well, but the men assaulted her and beat her back. Thirsty and exhausted, the family kept walking until reaching Tawila, where Alawia said she collapsed and was rushed to hospital. She was discharged after being treated. Marwan was also treated for the injuries he had sustained during the beating. Alawia said they then searched for relatives of the infant they had rescued, and after finding some of them, handed over the child. Alawia and her family are now living in Tawila, where a family has welcomed them into its home. "Life is OK, thank God, but we worry about the future," Alawia told the BBC. Marwan said he wanted to go abroad so that he could continue with his education and start a new life. This is something that millions of Sudanese have done, as their lives have been shattered by a war that shows no sign of ending. Go toBBCAfrica.comfor more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter@BBCAfrica, on Facebook atBBC Africaor on Instagram atbbcafrica