In excess of 60,000 Run from Sudan's City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Says
According to the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 civilians have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Reports indicate summary killings and human rights violations as militia members entered the city after an 18-month encirclement featuring food shortages and intense shelling.
The movement of those fleeing the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency representative.
Refugees were describing terrible stories of abuses, including rape, and the humanitarian group was struggling to secure adequate accommodation and supplies for them.
All children was affected by malnutrition, she noted.
It is estimated that over 150,000 people are still stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final bastion in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed widespread allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups attacking non-Arab communities.
Yet the RSF has detained one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The force distributed recordings showing the member's detention following confirmation that he was behind the killing of several civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has verified that it has removed the channel connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the profile in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a intense power struggle began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 individuals have been killed in the war across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the UN has called the biggest global humanitarian emergency.
The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of western Sudan and significant areas of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the army occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported proposal to advance to civilian rule.
