🔗 Share this article

According to the UNHCR, over 60,000 individuals have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia RSF during the weekend.

There have been mass executions and human rights violations as militia members stormed the city following an extended siege featuring famine and sustained attacks.

The exodus of those escaping the violence towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, according to UNHCR representative.

Survivors were describing terrible tales of abuses, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to find enough shelter and food for them.

All children was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she noted.

Estimates suggest that over 150,000 residents are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining fortress in the western part of Darfur.

The RSF has disputed extensive accusations that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and resemble a trend of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab populations.

However the paramilitary group has arrested one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.

The force distributed video depicting the member's arrest following identification that he was behind the death of multiple non-combatants near el-Fasher.

Digital platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the profile associated with Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the account in his identity.

Sudan was entered a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a vicious power struggle began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

This has resulted in a famine and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan.

More than 150,000 persons have died in the war around the country, and roughly 12 million have left their dwellings in what the UN has described as the most extensive humanitarian disaster.

The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in control of western Sudan and a large portion of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the army occupying the main city, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been collaborators - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported initiative to transition to democratic governance.