In excess of 60,000 Escape Sudan's City In the wake of Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Says
As stated by the UNHCR, more than 60,000 civilians have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.
Accounts suggest mass executions and atrocities as militia members entered the city following an year-and-a-half encirclement characterized by food shortages and heavy bombardment.
The movement of those fleeing the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, per UNHCR representative.
They were narrating shocking stories of abuses, including rape, and the agency was struggling to locate enough accommodation and supplies for them.
Each child was affected by undernourishment, she noted.
Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 people are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The RSF has denied broad allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and follow a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless the paramilitary group has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The organization released recordings depicting the fighter's arrest subsequent to confirmation that he was behind the killing of multiple non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Social media platform has confirmed that it has suspended the channel linked to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the account in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 following a vicious power struggle broke out between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has caused a starvation emergency and claims of genocide in the western Sudan.
More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has described as the world's largest humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of western Sudan and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed plan to advance to civilian leadership.
