More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City Following Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Says
According to the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest summary killings and atrocities as militia members took control of the city after an extended siege characterized by starvation and sustained attacks.
The flow of those escaping the violence towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had increased in the last several days, according to UNHCR representative.
Refugees were narrating horrendous accounts of violence, featuring rape, and the agency was having trouble to secure sufficient accommodation and nourishment for them.
Each child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 people are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected extensive accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and resemble a trend of the Arab fighters focusing on ethnic minorities.
Yet the paramilitary group has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The group distributed footage showing the fighter's detention subsequent to confirmation that he was involved in the execution of numerous civilians close to el-Fasher.
Social media platform has acknowledged that it has banned the channel associated with Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had managed the profile in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a vicious struggle for power began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has caused a famine and accusations of mass killing in the Darfur area.
Over 150,000 people have died in the conflict throughout the country, and about 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the UN has called the biggest global humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher solidifies the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in control of Sudan's west and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.
The opposing sides had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed plan to advance to civilian leadership.
