More than 60,000 Escape Sudan's City In the wake of Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
Per the United Nations refugee organization, in excess of 60,000 individuals have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.
There have been summary killings and human rights violations as RSF fighters stormed the city following an 18-month blockade featuring famine and intense shelling.
The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, per UNHCR representative.
Refugees were narrating terrible stories of atrocities, including rape, and the agency was struggling to find sufficient housing and food for them.
Each child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she commented.
Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 residents are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the military's last fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed widespread allegations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a pattern of the Arab militia groups focusing on non-Arab communities.
Yet the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.
The organization distributed footage depicting the militiaman's detention after identification that he was responsible for the killing of multiple non-combatants close to el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has confirmed that it has suspended the profile associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had managed the profile in his name.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a brutal contest for control erupted between its military and the RSF.
The conflict has caused a famine and allegations of genocide in the Darfur area.
More than 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the fighting across the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the biggest global humanitarian crisis.
The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of western Sudan and a large portion of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed plan to move towards civilian rule.
