Over 60,000 Flee Sudanese City After Seizure by RSF Militia, United Nations Reports
Per the United Nations refugee organization, in excess of 60,000 civilians have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
There have been mass executions and human rights violations as militia members stormed the city after an year-and-a-half siege featuring starvation and intense shelling.
The exodus of those fleeing the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the last several days, per United Nations refugee agency representative.
Refugees were describing shocking accounts of violence, including rape, and the organization was having trouble to locate enough accommodation and supplies for them.
All children was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she added.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 people are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final bastion in the western region of Darfur.
The RSF has denied widespread claims that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a pattern of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab populations.
However the RSF has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The force released recordings revealing the member's apprehension after identification that he was involved in the execution of multiple unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has banned the channel associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the account in his name.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 when a brutal contest for control erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has resulted in a starvation emergency and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
In excess of 150,000 persons have died in the war around the country, and about 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army holding the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The competing factions had been allies - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed plan to transition to civilian rule.