In excess of 60,000 Escape Sudanese City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Militia, United Nations Reports
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 people have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
Reports indicate multiple executions and human rights violations as militia members stormed the city after an extended blockade marked by starvation and sustained attacks.
The movement of those fleeing the fighting towards the town of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
They were telling shocking tales of atrocities, such as rape, and the organization was having trouble to find enough accommodation and supplies for them.
Each child was suffering from undernourishment, she commented.
It is estimated that in excess of 150,000 residents are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and mirror a practice of the Arab paramilitaries attacking non-Arab communities.
Yet the RSF has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The organization released recordings revealing the fighter's arrest subsequent to identification that he was involved in the killing of multiple unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has banned the profile connected to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the account in his name.
Sudan was entered a civil war in April 2023 following a brutal struggle for power broke out between its military and the RSF.
The conflict has caused a food crisis and accusations of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
Over 150,000 individuals have been killed in the conflict across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian disaster.
The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in command of Sudan's west and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been partners - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an foreign-endorsed plan to advance to civilian rule.