In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Says
As stated by 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 RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest multiple executions and human rights violations as militia members took control of the city following an year-and-a-half siege featuring food shortages and intense shelling.
The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, as stated by UNHCR representative.
Refugees were narrating horrendous stories of abuses, such as sexual violence, and the organization was having trouble to secure enough accommodation and food for them.
Each child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she commented.
Calculations indicate that more than 150,000 individuals are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed widespread accusations that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a trend of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.
However the paramilitary group has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The group shared video depicting the fighter's apprehension subsequent to verification that he was responsible for the execution of several unarmed men close to el-Fasher.
Social media platform has verified that it has banned the account connected to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the account in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 when a intense power struggle began between its military and the RSF.
It has caused a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
In excess of 150,000 people have lost their lives in the war throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the UN has termed the biggest global humanitarian emergency.
The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the capital, 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 disagreed over an globally supported plan to advance to civilian leadership.