In excess of 60,000 Run from Sudan's City Following Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Says

Displaced people fleeing conflict in Sudan
Numerous seek to get to the town of Tawila but experience intimidation, extortion and abuse from armed men during their journey

According to the UNHCR, more than 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia RSF during the weekend.

There have been summary killings and crimes against humanity as paramilitary forces entered the city following an 18-month blockade marked by starvation and heavy bombardment.

The movement of those fleeing the violence towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the last several days, per United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

They were narrating terrible stories of violence, featuring rape, and the organization was having trouble to locate adequate shelter and food for them.

All children was experiencing undernourishment, she commented.

Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 individuals are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final bastion in the western region of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has disputed extensive allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a pattern of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.

However the paramilitary group has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in summary executions.

The force distributed footage revealing the member's apprehension after identification that he was responsible for the death of numerous non-combatants near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has confirmed that it has suspended the account associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the profile in his identity.

Sudan was entered a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal power struggle erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has led to a famine and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.

Over 150,000 persons have lost their lives in the fighting across the country, and approximately 12 million have left 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 RSF now in dominance of western Sudan and much of bordering Kordofan to the southern area, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region.

The opposing sides had been allies - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed plan to transition to civilian leadership.

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