Over 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN States
As stated by the United Nations refugee organization, in excess of 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia RSF recently.
Accounts suggest summary killings and human rights violations as militia members entered the city after an 18-month blockade characterized by food shortages and intense shelling.
The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, as stated by UNHCR representative.
They were narrating shocking accounts of abuses, featuring sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to find enough shelter and food for them.
Each child was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she commented.
Calculations indicate that over 150,000 people are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has rejected extensive accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and follow a practice of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.
However the RSF has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The force shared recordings depicting the fighter's detention following identification that he was responsible for the killing of several non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has verified that it has suspended the account associated with Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the account in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal contest for control began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
This has led to a starvation emergency and allegations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the fighting across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their residences in what the United Nations has termed the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals had been partners - taking over together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed plan to move towards civilian leadership.
