More than 60,000 Run from Sudanese City After Seizure by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
As stated by the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 individuals have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
There have been summary killings and atrocities as militia members stormed the city following an 18-month encirclement featuring food shortages and sustained attacks.
The flow of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, per UNHCR representative.
They were describing shocking tales of abuses, including rape, and the humanitarian group was finding it difficult to locate enough shelter and food for them.
Every child was suffering from undernourishment, she noted.
It is estimated that over 150,000 residents are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected widespread accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab communities.
However the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with on-the-spot executions.
The group released recordings depicting the militiaman's arrest subsequent to confirmation that he was responsible for the killing of several unarmed men 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 name.
Sudan was entered a civil war in April 2023 when a intense struggle for power broke out between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has led to a food crisis and allegations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
More than 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the conflict around the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of western Sudan and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been allies - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed initiative to advance to democratic governance.
