Over 60,000 Flee Sudanese City Following Capture by RSF Militia, United Nations Reports
According to the UNHCR, more than 60,000 individuals have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest multiple executions and atrocities as militia members stormed the city after an year-and-a-half encirclement marked by famine and heavy bombardment.
The exodus of those fleeing the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, according to UNHCR spokesperson.
They were telling horrendous tales of atrocities, including sexual violence, and the organization was struggling to find sufficient accommodation and food for them.
Each child was suffering from malnutrition, she noted.
Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 people are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has disputed extensive accusations that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab communities.
However the RSF has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of on-the-spot executions.
The group distributed footage depicting the militiaman's apprehension after verification that he was responsible for the execution of several unarmed men close to el-Fasher.
Digital platform has confirmed that it has suspended the channel connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the profile in his name.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 after a intense struggle for power broke out between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
This has caused a food crisis and accusations of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.
More than 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the conflict throughout the country, and about 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in control of Sudan's west and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been collaborators - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed proposal to move towards democratic governance.