Over 60,000 Flee Sudanese City Following Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Says

Displaced people fleeing violence in Sudan
Many are trying to get to the town of Tawila but face intimidation, demands for money and abuse from armed men during their journey

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

Accounts suggest multiple executions and human rights violations as militia members took control of the city after an year-and-a-half siege featuring food shortages and intense shelling.

The exodus of those escaping the violence towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

Refugees were telling shocking tales of violence, featuring rape, and the organization was finding it difficult to secure enough accommodation and food for them.

All children was suffering from undernourishment, she noted.

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

The Rapid Support Forces has denied widespread claims that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a trend of the Arab militia groups focusing on non-Arab communities.

Nevertheless the RSF has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions.

The force distributed footage revealing the militiaman's detention after identification that he was involved in the killing of multiple non-combatants close to el-Fasher.

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

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 when a brutal struggle for power began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

The conflict has resulted in a famine and claims of genocide in the western Darfur region.

In excess of 150,000 people have lost their lives in the fighting around the country, and approximately 12 million have left their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of the western region and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army holding the capital, Khartoum, the center and east along the coastal region.

The two warring rivals had been collaborators - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported initiative to advance to democratic governance.

Jeffery Smith
Jeffery Smith

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