In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City After Seizure by RSF Militia, United Nations States
Per the UN refugee agency, in excess of 60,000 individuals have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest mass executions and atrocities as RSF fighters stormed the city after an extended encirclement featuring food shortages and sustained attacks.
The movement of those running from the fighting towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the past few days, according to UNHCR representative.
Refugees were telling horrendous accounts of violence, including sexual violence, and the organization was finding it difficult to locate adequate housing and nourishment for them.
Every child was affected by malnutrition, she noted.
Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 people are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has rejected extensive claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries attacking non-Arab communities.
However the RSF has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings.
The force distributed video showing the member's detention after confirmation that he was behind the death of several unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has acknowledged that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had managed the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 following a vicious contest for control erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has caused a famine and allegations of genocide in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the war across the country, and roughly 12 million have left their dwellings in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian disaster.
The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of Sudan's west and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals had been partners - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed proposal to move towards democratic governance.