🔗 Share this article

Per the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 civilians have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.

Reports indicate mass executions and atrocities as paramilitary forces took control of the city after an extended encirclement featuring famine and intense shelling.

The exodus of those escaping the conflict towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, per UNHCR representative.

Refugees were telling horrendous tales of violence, such as rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to locate sufficient accommodation and supplies for them.

All children was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.

Calculations indicate that over 150,000 individuals are currently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western region of Darfur.

The RSF has rejected widespread allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a trend of the Arab militia groups attacking non-Arab communities.

Yet the paramilitary group has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of on-the-spot executions.

The group released video revealing the fighter's detention after confirmation that he was behind the killing of several unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher.

Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has removed the channel connected to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had managed the profile in his name.

Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a intense contest for control erupted between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has resulted in a starvation emergency and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.

Over 150,000 persons have been killed in the war across the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their homes in what the United Nations has termed the biggest global humanitarian disaster.

The seizure of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of western Sudan and significant areas of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the army occupying the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the Red Sea.

The two warring rivals had been partners - taking over together in a takeover in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed proposal to move towards democratic governance.