In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations States
According to the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 people have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF recently.
Accounts suggest summary killings and atrocities as militia members took control of the city following an 18-month blockade characterized by famine and intense shelling.
The flow of those fleeing the violence towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, per UNHCR spokesperson.
Survivors were describing horrendous accounts of abuses, including sexual violence, and the agency was struggling to find enough shelter and food for them.
Every child was experiencing undernourishment, she added.
It is estimated that in excess of 150,000 people are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's last fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected broad claims that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a trend of the Arab militia groups attacking non-Arab populations.
Nevertheless the RSF has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The organization released footage revealing the fighter's detention after verification that he was responsible for the death of numerous non-combatants close to el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has removed the account connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a intense struggle for power broke out between its military and the RSF.
The conflict has caused a famine and allegations of genocide in the Darfur area.
In excess of 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the conflict throughout the country, and about 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the UN has termed the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in command of western Sudan and a large portion of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals had been collaborators - taking over together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to transition to civilian leadership.
