In excess of 60,000 Run from Sudan's City After Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Reports
Per the UNHCR, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Reports indicate multiple executions and human rights violations as militia members took control of the city following an 18-month siege characterized by famine and sustained attacks.
The flow of those escaping the violence towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, according to UNHCR representative.
They were telling shocking accounts of violence, including sexual violence, and the organization was having trouble to find adequate housing and nourishment for them.
All children was experiencing undernourishment, she commented.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has rejected widespread allegations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a trend of the Arab paramilitaries attacking non-Arab populations.
Yet the paramilitary group has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The organization shared footage depicting the member's detention following confirmation that he was behind the execution of multiple unarmed men close to el-Fasher.
Digital platform has verified that it has suspended the channel linked to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the profile in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 after a brutal struggle for power began between its military and the RSF.
This has resulted in a food crisis and accusations of mass killing in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the fighting around the country, and roughly 12 million have fled their homes in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The capture of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in control of the western region and a large portion of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The two warring rivals had been collaborators - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed plan to advance to civilian rule.