🔗 Share this article Over 60,000 Escape Sudanese City Following Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports Numerous are trying to get to the settlement of Tawila but encounter intimidation, extortion and abuse from militiamen during their journey As stated by the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF recently. Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters stormed the city following an year-and-a-half siege featuring food shortages and intense shelling. The movement of those fleeing the fighting towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency representative. They were describing shocking accounts of violence, including rape, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to secure sufficient housing and supplies for them. Each child was affected by nutritional deficiencies, she commented. Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's last fortress in the western part of Darfur. The RSF has denied broad accusations that the deaths in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a practice of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities. Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions. The organization shared recordings revealing the member's arrest following identification that he was involved in the execution of multiple non-combatants near el-Fasher. Video sharing service has verified that it has removed the account connected to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had operated the profile in his identity. Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 following a intense contest for control broke out between its military and the RSF. This has caused a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan. More than 150,000 people have lost their lives in the fighting throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have left their residences in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian crisis. The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea. The two warring rivals had been collaborators - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an globally supported initiative to move towards democratic governance.