In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City After Seizure by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN Says
As stated by the UNHCR, over 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia RSF during the weekend.
Accounts suggest mass executions and crimes against humanity as RSF fighters stormed the city following an year-and-a-half encirclement characterized by food shortages and heavy bombardment.
The flow of those running from the fighting towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, according to United Nations refugee agency representative.
Refugees were telling terrible accounts of abuses, including rape, and the agency was having trouble to locate enough housing and supplies for them.
Every child was experiencing malnutrition, she commented.
Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 individuals are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied widespread allegations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups attacking ethnic minorities.
However the RSF has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with on-the-spot executions.
The force released recordings revealing the militiaman's arrest subsequent to confirmation that he was involved in the death of numerous unarmed men near el-Fasher.
Social media platform has verified that it has banned the account connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the profile in his identity.
Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a intense struggle for power broke out between its army and the RSF.
The conflict has led to a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
Over 150,000 persons have been killed in the conflict throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of the western region and a large portion of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been partners - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed plan to transition to civilian rule.
