In excess of 60,000 Run from Sudanese City After Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Reports
As stated by the UNHCR, over 60,000 individuals have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.
Reports indicate mass executions and crimes against humanity as RSF fighters stormed the city after an 18-month blockade marked by starvation and heavy bombardment.
The movement of those escaping the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, per UNHCR representative.
Survivors were narrating terrible stories of violence, such as sexual violence, and the agency was finding it difficult to find adequate shelter and food for them.
All children was suffering from undernourishment, she added.
It is estimated that over 150,000 residents are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a practice of the Arab fighters focusing on ethnic minorities.
Yet the RSF has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with on-the-spot executions.
The group shared footage depicting the member's apprehension following identification that he was involved in the execution of several non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has removed the profile linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had managed the profile in his name.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 when a intense contest for control erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has caused a food crisis and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
Over 150,000 individuals have died in the fighting throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have left their residences in what the United Nations has called the most extensive humanitarian disaster.
The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of the western region and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - taking over together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported proposal to move towards civilian rule.