More than 60,000 Run from Sudanese City Following Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations States
Per the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
There have been summary killings and atrocities as paramilitary forces stormed the city following an extended encirclement 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 increased in the past few days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency representative.
Refugees were describing horrendous stories of abuses, such as rape, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to secure adequate accommodation and nourishment for them.
Each child was experiencing malnutrition, she added.
Calculations indicate that over 150,000 residents are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed broad claims that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab communities.
However the RSF has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The group shared video showing the fighter's detention following confirmation that he was behind the execution of multiple civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has confirmed that it has suspended the profile connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 when a brutal power struggle began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has resulted in a starvation emergency and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
More than 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the fighting across the country, and about 12 million have fled their residences in what the United Nations has termed the most extensive humanitarian crisis.
The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of western Sudan and a large portion of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military controlling the main city, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been collaborators - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to move towards democratic governance.