Over 60,000 Run from Sudanese City After Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Militia, UN Says
Per the UNHCR, in excess of 60,000 people have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.
Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as paramilitary forces stormed the city following an year-and-a-half encirclement marked by famine and sustained attacks.
The flow of those running from the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
Survivors were describing shocking accounts of violence, featuring sexual violence, and the organization was having trouble to secure sufficient accommodation and supplies for them.
Every child was suffering from malnutrition, she commented.
Estimates suggest that over 150,000 individuals are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final stronghold in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied widespread allegations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a trend of the Arab fighters focusing on non-Arab populations.
However the paramilitary group has custodied one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The organization released video revealing the militiaman's detention subsequent to verification that he was involved in the killing of multiple non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Digital platform has acknowledged that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the account in his identity.
Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 following a vicious power struggle began between its army and the RSF.
It has led to a starvation emergency and accusations of genocide in the Darfur area.
Over 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the fighting throughout the country, and about 12 million have fled their residences in what the UN has described as the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The takeover of el-Fasher solidifies the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of Sudan's west and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to advance to democratic governance.