Over 60,000 Flee Sudan's City After Takeover by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
Per the UNHCR, in excess of 60,000 people have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia RSF during the weekend.
Reports indicate mass executions and human rights violations as militia members stormed the city following an 18-month siege featuring starvation and heavy bombardment.
The exodus of those fleeing the violence towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, as stated by UNHCR spokesperson.
Refugees were narrating shocking stories of violence, featuring rape, and the humanitarian group was finding it difficult to locate sufficient accommodation and food for them.
Each child was experiencing malnutrition, she commented.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining bastion in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a pattern of the Arab militia groups targeting non-Arab communities.
However the paramilitary group has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.
The group shared footage showing the militiaman's detention following verification that he was behind the killing of several unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has confirmed that it has suspended the account linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had operated the profile in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a brutal power struggle broke out between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has led to a food crisis and claims of mass killing in the western Darfur region.
Over 150,000 persons have died in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of Sudan's west and a large portion of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the army controlling the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The two warring rivals had been allies - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but split over an globally supported plan to transition to civilian leadership.
