More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City In the wake of Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations States
Per the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 civilians have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.
Accounts suggest multiple executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters took control of the city following an year-and-a-half siege featuring starvation and sustained attacks.
The flow of those fleeing the violence towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the past few days, according to UNHCR spokesperson.
They were narrating terrible accounts of violence, featuring rape, and the humanitarian group was finding it difficult to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them.
Every child was affected by malnutrition, she commented.
It is estimated that over 150,000 people are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The RSF has disputed broad allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and mirror a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.
Yet the paramilitary group has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.
The organization shared video revealing the fighter's detention after identification that he was responsible for the death of numerous unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has verified that it has suspended the profile connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 after a brutal contest for control began between its military and the RSF.
The conflict has led to a famine and claims of mass killing in the western Sudan.
Over 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have left their dwellings in what the UN has described as the biggest global humanitarian crisis.
The takeover of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military occupying 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 fell out over an globally supported plan to move towards civilian leadership.