In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City In the wake of Capture by RSF Paramilitary Group, United Nations States
Per the UNHCR, over 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.
Accounts suggest summary killings and human rights violations as paramilitary forces stormed the city following an extended blockade characterized by food shortages and sustained attacks.
The exodus of those running from the fighting towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, per United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
Refugees were narrating shocking stories of atrocities, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was struggling to locate enough shelter and food for them.
Every child was experiencing malnutrition, she added.
Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 individuals are still stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected widespread allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and follow a trend of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.
Yet the paramilitary group has custodied one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The force shared footage revealing the member's arrest after identification that he was responsible for the death of numerous unarmed men close to el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has removed the account connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 following a brutal struggle for power broke out between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has resulted in a starvation emergency and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
Over 150,000 people have died in the fighting across the country, and about 12 million have left their homes in what the UN has termed the biggest global humanitarian disaster.
The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of the western region and a large portion of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed plan to advance to democratic governance.