More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City After Takeover by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
According to the UN refugee agency, in excess of 60,000 individuals have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF recently.
There have been mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters took control of the city following an extended blockade characterized by famine and sustained attacks.
The exodus of those running from the violence towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the past few days, as stated by UNHCR spokesperson.
They were describing shocking accounts of abuses, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was finding it difficult to locate sufficient housing and nourishment for them.
All children was experiencing malnutrition, she added.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive claims that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a trend of the Arab militia groups focusing on ethnic minorities.
Yet the RSF has detained one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings.
The organization shared recordings revealing the fighter's arrest subsequent to confirmation that he was responsible for the killing of several civilians near el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has verified that it has removed the channel linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the profile in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 following a vicious power struggle began between its army and the RSF.
The conflict has caused a food crisis and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan.
More than 150,000 persons have died in the war across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their residences in what the United Nations has called the biggest global humanitarian emergency.
The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of western Sudan and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.
The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed plan to move towards civilian leadership.
