Over 60,000 Flee Sudan's City Following Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Militia, UN States
Per the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces recently.
Reports indicate multiple executions and crimes against humanity as RSF fighters stormed the city after an 18-month siege featuring starvation and intense shelling.
The exodus of those running from the violence towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the past few days, according to UNHCR representative.
They were telling horrendous stories of violence, featuring sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to find enough housing and nourishment for them.
Every child was affected by undernourishment, she commented.
Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final bastion in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has denied widespread accusations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and resemble a practice of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.
Yet the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The group distributed video depicting the fighter's arrest subsequent to identification that he was responsible for the killing of several civilians near el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the profile linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the profile in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a intense power struggle erupted between its army and the RSF.
The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and claims of mass killing in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the conflict across the country, and approximately 12 million have left their homes in what the United Nations has called the most extensive humanitarian disaster.
The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of western Sudan and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported plan to transition to civilian rule.