Over 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN States
According to the United Nations refugee organization, in excess of 60,000 people have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.
There have been mass executions and crimes against humanity as militia members took control of the city after an year-and-a-half siege featuring famine and sustained attacks.
The exodus of those fleeing the fighting towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
They were narrating horrendous tales of violence, including sexual violence, and the organization was finding it difficult to secure enough shelter and supplies for them.
Each child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed widespread allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries attacking non-Arab populations.
However the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The organization released footage revealing the member's detention subsequent to identification that he was responsible for the killing of multiple non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Digital platform has verified that it has suspended the channel connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 following a brutal contest for control broke out between its military and the RSF.
This has resulted in a famine and accusations of genocide in the Darfur area.
In excess of 150,000 individuals have been killed in the war across the country, and about 12 million have left their homes in what the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of the western region 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 competing factions had been allies - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed initiative to transition to civilian leadership.