More than 60,000 Run from Sudanese City Following Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Says
As stated by the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 civilians have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary RSF recently.
There have been mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters stormed the city after an 18-month siege characterized by famine and intense shelling.
The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
Refugees were telling horrendous tales of abuses, featuring rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to find sufficient accommodation and nourishment for them.
Each child was experiencing undernourishment, she added.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 people are still stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected broad accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a pattern of the Arab fighters focusing on non-Arab communities.
However the paramilitary group has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings.
The group distributed footage showing the militiaman's detention subsequent to identification that he was involved in the killing of multiple civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Digital platform has verified that it has suspended the account associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had managed the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a brutal struggle for power erupted between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has led to a food crisis and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur area.
In excess of 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their homes in what the UN has described as the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of the western region and significant areas of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The competing factions had been allies - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an globally supported plan to transition to civilian leadership.
