More than 60,000 Escape Sudanese City In the wake of Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
As stated by the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 people have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary RSF recently.
Reports indicate summary killings and atrocities as militia members stormed the city following an 18-month encirclement characterized by famine and intense shelling.
The movement of those running from the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
They were narrating horrendous accounts of abuses, such as rape, and the agency was struggling to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them.
Every child was suffering from malnutrition, she commented.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 residents are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied broad accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a trend of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.
Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The group shared recordings showing the member's detention subsequent to verification that he was behind the killing of numerous non-combatants close to el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has confirmed that it has banned the profile associated with Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 following a brutal power struggle broke out between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has resulted in a starvation emergency and accusations of mass killing in the western Darfur region.
Over 150,000 persons have been killed in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have left their homes in what the UN has described as the most extensive humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of Sudan's west and much of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported plan to move towards civilian rule.
