Over 60,000 Run from Sudanese City After Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports
According to the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia RSF recently.
Reports indicate summary killings and crimes against humanity as paramilitary forces entered the city after an extended encirclement featuring starvation and heavy bombardment.
The movement of those running from the violence towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had increased in the last several days, according to UNHCR representative.
Survivors were describing terrible tales of violence, featuring sexual violence, and the agency was struggling to find enough accommodation and food for them.
All children was suffering from malnutrition, she added.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 people are currently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final bastion in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied widespread accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a pattern of the Arab fighters targeting ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings.
The group released footage showing the member's apprehension after confirmation that he was involved in the execution of multiple unarmed men close to el-Fasher.
Digital platform has confirmed that it has removed the channel associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 when a intense contest for control erupted between its army and the RSF.
The conflict has led to a famine and claims of mass killing in the western Sudan.
Over 150,000 persons have been killed in the conflict throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have left their dwellings in what the UN has called the biggest global humanitarian disaster.
The takeover of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of the western region and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been partners - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed initiative to transition to democratic governance.
