In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Seizure by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN States
As stated by the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 people have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Reports indicate mass executions and human rights violations as paramilitary forces took control of the city following an 18-month encirclement characterized by food shortages and sustained attacks.
The movement of those running from the conflict towards the town of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, as stated by UNHCR representative.
Survivors were describing terrible accounts of violence, including rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them.
Each child was suffering from undernourishment, she noted.
It is estimated that over 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The RSF has denied broad allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups focusing on ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless the RSF has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in summary executions.
The organization shared video depicting the member's detention following confirmation that he was responsible for the killing of numerous unarmed men near el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has removed the channel linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had managed the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious contest for control broke out between its military and the RSF.
It has caused a food crisis and allegations of genocide in the western Sudan.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the war across the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the UN has called the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - taking over together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed proposal to move towards democratic governance.
