Over 60,000 Escape Sudan's City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Says

Per the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 individuals have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.

There have been mass executions and human rights violations as paramilitary forces took control of the city following an year-and-a-half blockade marked by food shortages and intense shelling.

The flow of those fleeing the conflict towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, according to UNHCR representative.

Refugees were describing horrendous stories of atrocities, such as rape, and the organization was finding it difficult to locate sufficient housing and nourishment for them.

All children was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she noted.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 individuals are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western region of Darfur.

The RSF has denied broad accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a trend of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.

Yet the paramilitary group has custodied one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions.

The group released video showing the member's detention subsequent to confirmation that he was involved in the killing of several civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.

Video sharing service has verified that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the account in his identity.

Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a vicious power struggle erupted between its military and the RSF.

The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and accusations of mass killing in the western Darfur region.

Over 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the fighting throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the United Nations has described as the biggest global humanitarian disaster.

The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west 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 allies - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported plan to move towards civilian leadership.