More than 60,000 Run from Sudanese City In the wake of Takeover by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
Per the UNHCR, in excess of 60,000 people have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary RSF recently.
Accounts suggest multiple executions and crimes against humanity as RSF fighters entered the city following an extended blockade marked by famine and sustained attacks.
The flow of those fleeing the fighting towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
They were describing horrendous tales of violence, such as rape, and the organization was having trouble to secure adequate shelter and supplies for them.
Each child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.
Calculations indicate that more than 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has denied broad claims that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a practice of the Arab fighters attacking non-Arab populations.
Nevertheless the RSF has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The force released video showing the fighter's arrest following verification that he was behind the execution of numerous unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has confirmed that it has suspended the account linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the profile in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
It has led to a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
In excess of 150,000 individuals have been killed in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have fled their residences in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of western Sudan and significant areas of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.
The two warring rivals had been partners - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed proposal to advance to democratic governance.