More than 60,000 Run from Sudan's City After Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Militia, UN Reports
According to the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 people have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.
There have been multiple executions and crimes against humanity as paramilitary forces entered the city following an extended siege marked by food shortages and sustained attacks.
The movement of those fleeing the conflict towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the last several days, as stated by UNHCR representative.
Refugees were telling terrible tales of abuses, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was struggling to find sufficient accommodation and food for them.
Every child was experiencing undernourishment, she noted.
It is estimated that over 150,000 people are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining fortress in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied widespread claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and mirror a trend of the Arab paramilitaries attacking ethnic minorities.
However the RSF has detained one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with on-the-spot executions.
The group released video revealing the militiaman's arrest after confirmation that he was behind the execution of multiple unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has verified that it has removed the account connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the account in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a brutal power struggle erupted between its army and the RSF.
It has resulted in a starvation emergency and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
In excess of 150,000 people have died in the war throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have left their dwellings in what the UN has termed the most extensive humanitarian crisis.
The takeover of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of the western region and significant areas of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the army occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.
The competing factions had been collaborators - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed initiative to transition to democratic governance.
