More than 60,000 Flee Sudan's City After Capture by RSF Militia, United Nations States
Per the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 people have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia RSF during the weekend.
There have been multiple executions and atrocities as RSF fighters entered the city following an 18-month encirclement featuring starvation and intense shelling.
The movement of those running from the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, per United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
Survivors were narrating shocking tales of violence, including sexual violence, and the organization was struggling to locate enough accommodation and food for them.
All children was suffering from undernourishment, she commented.
It is estimated that in excess of 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has rejected extensive claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a trend of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab populations.
Nevertheless the RSF has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The group released recordings revealing the member's apprehension after confirmation that he was responsible for the execution of multiple non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Social media platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the channel connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the profile in his name.
Sudan was thrown into a internal conflict in April 2023 after a intense contest for control began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.
This has resulted in a food crisis and claims of genocide in the western Darfur region.
More than 150,000 persons have been killed in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their homes in what the UN has called the biggest global humanitarian crisis.
The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of the western region and much of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the main city, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.
The opposing sides had been collaborators - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported proposal to move towards democratic governance.