🔗 Share this article

As stated by the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.

There have been mass executions and atrocities as RSF fighters entered the city following an 18-month siege marked by food shortages and intense shelling.

The movement of those fleeing the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, per UNHCR representative.

They were describing terrible accounts of abuses, such as rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to locate sufficient accommodation and supplies for them.

Each child was experiencing undernourishment, she added.

Calculations indicate that over 150,000 residents are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and resemble a practice of the Arab militia groups targeting ethnic minorities.

Yet the paramilitary group has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.

The organization shared footage revealing the member's apprehension subsequent to verification that he was responsible for the killing of numerous non-combatants near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has verified that it has banned the account linked 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 brutal power struggle erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

This has resulted in a food crisis and accusations of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.

Over 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the fighting around the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian emergency.

The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of western Sudan and much of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The opposing sides had been partners - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed initiative to move towards civilian rule.