More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City In the wake of Seizure by RSF Militia, UN Reports
Per the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.
Reports indicate summary killings and crimes against humanity as militia members entered the city following an 18-month siege featuring famine and sustained attacks.
The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency representative.
Refugees were narrating shocking stories of violence, such as rape, and the agency was having trouble to locate sufficient shelter and nourishment for them.
Every child was affected by nutritional deficiencies, she added.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 individuals are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final stronghold in the western part of Darfur.
The RSF has rejected widespread allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a practice of the Arab paramilitaries targeting non-Arab communities.
Yet the RSF has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.
The organization distributed footage revealing the fighter's detention following verification that he was behind the execution of several non-combatants near el-Fasher.
Digital platform has verified that it has banned the profile connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the profile in his name.
Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a intense struggle for power broke out between its army and the RSF.
It has resulted in a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur area.
In excess of 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the fighting throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian disaster.
The seizure of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of Sudan's west and much of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.
The two warring rivals had been collaborators - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed proposal to transition to civilian leadership.
