More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City In the wake of Capture by RSF Paramilitary Group, UN States
Per the UNHCR, more than 60,000 civilians have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
Accounts suggest summary killings and atrocities as militia members stormed the city after an extended encirclement marked by starvation and sustained attacks.
The exodus of those running from the violence towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, as stated by UNHCR spokesperson.
Refugees were describing terrible stories of abuses, such as rape, and the humanitarian group was struggling to secure enough accommodation and food for them.
Each child was suffering from undernourishment, she commented.
It is estimated that over 150,000 people are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive claims that the killings in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and follow a trend of the Arab paramilitaries targeting ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless the paramilitary group has custodied one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The force shared video depicting the fighter's detention after identification that he was responsible for the killing of multiple non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has verified that it has banned the channel associated with Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the profile in his name.
Sudan was entered a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a intense contest for control broke out between its army and the RSF.
It has led to a famine and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.
In excess of 150,000 people have died in the fighting throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
The capture of el-Fasher solidifies the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of Sudan's west and much of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army occupying the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the Red Sea.
The competing factions had been partners - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed proposal to advance to democratic governance.
