More than 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Reports
According to the UNHCR, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest multiple executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters stormed the city after an 18-month siege characterized by starvation and heavy bombardment.
The flow of those running from the conflict towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, per UNHCR representative.
Survivors were telling terrible tales of abuses, such as sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to locate sufficient accommodation and supplies for them.
Each child was suffering from undernourishment, she noted.
Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 individuals are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's last fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has rejected extensive accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and resemble a trend of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.
However the RSF has arrested one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions.
The organization shared video revealing the militiaman's arrest subsequent to verification that he was responsible for the death of numerous civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has confirmed that it has removed the profile linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the profile in his identity.
Sudan was entered a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a brutal power struggle broke out between its military and the RSF.
The conflict has caused a food crisis and claims of mass killing in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 persons have been killed in the fighting around the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the United Nations has called the most extensive humanitarian crisis.
The seizure of el-Fasher strengthens the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of the western region and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been partners - taking over together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed proposal to move towards civilian rule.
