🔗 Share this article

According to the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 individuals have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.

Reports indicate summary killings and human rights violations as RSF fighters took control of the city after an extended encirclement characterized by famine and intense shelling.

The movement of those fleeing the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the last several days, according to UNHCR representative.

Survivors were describing terrible stories of violence, such as rape, and the organization was finding it difficult to locate adequate shelter and nourishment for them.

Every child was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she commented.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 individuals are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive claims that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and follow a pattern of the Arab fighters focusing on non-Arab populations.

Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with on-the-spot executions.

The organization distributed footage depicting the fighter's detention following verification that he was involved in the killing of multiple civilians near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has acknowledged that it has removed the profile associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the profile in his name.

Sudan was entered a civil war in April 2023 following a brutal power struggle broke out between its military and the RSF.

The conflict has resulted in a starvation emergency and claims of mass killing in the western Darfur region.

In excess of 150,000 persons have died in the war throughout the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian emergency.

The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of western Sudan and much of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the army holding the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.

The two warring rivals had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to advance to civilian rule.