Over 60,000 Escape Sudanese City Following Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN States

As stated by the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 people have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.

Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as militia members entered the city following an year-and-a-half siege featuring food shortages and sustained attacks.

The exodus of those running from the violence towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, as stated by UNHCR representative.

Survivors were narrating terrible accounts of violence, such as rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to secure enough housing and food for them.

Each child was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she noted.

Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

The RSF has rejected widespread claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and mirror a pattern of the Arab militia groups focusing on non-Arab populations.

Yet the paramilitary group has detained one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.

The force shared video showing the member's detention following verification that he was responsible for the death of multiple civilians close to el-Fasher.

Digital platform has confirmed that it has banned the channel associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had managed the profile in his name.

Sudan was entered a internal conflict in April 2023 following a vicious struggle for power began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has caused a famine and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan.

More than 150,000 individuals have died in the fighting around the country, and roughly 12 million have left their dwellings in what the United Nations has described as the biggest global humanitarian emergency.

The takeover of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of western Sudan and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.

The competing factions had been partners - taking over together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed plan to advance to civilian leadership.