🔗 Share this article

Per the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia RSF over the weekend.

There have been mass executions and crimes against humanity as RSF fighters stormed the city following an year-and-a-half blockade marked by starvation and intense shelling.

The flow of those escaping the conflict towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, according to UNHCR spokesperson.

They were narrating terrible accounts of atrocities, including rape, and the agency was having trouble to find sufficient housing and nourishment for them.

Every child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.

Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 people are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final fortress in the western part of Darfur.

The RSF has rejected broad allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a practice of the Arab paramilitaries attacking non-Arab populations.

However the paramilitary group has detained one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions.

The force distributed recordings revealing the member's arrest following verification that he was responsible for the killing of numerous unarmed men near el-Fasher.

Video sharing service has confirmed that it has removed the channel linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the account in his name.

Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 following a intense struggle for power began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

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

Over 150,000 people have lost their lives in the war across the country, and roughly 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The takeover of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in control of Sudan's west and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.

The two warring rivals had been partners - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed initiative to transition to democratic governance.