Over 60,000 Flee Sudan's City After Seizure by RSF Militia, United Nations Reports

As stated by the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 individuals have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.

Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as paramilitary forces took control of the city after an extended blockade featuring famine and sustained attacks.

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

Refugees were telling horrendous tales of abuses, featuring sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was finding it difficult to find adequate housing and food for them.

Each child was experiencing malnutrition, she added.

Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 individuals are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western region of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a trend of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab populations.

Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.

The group released recordings showing the militiaman's arrest following confirmation that he was involved in the execution of numerous civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.

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

Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a intense power struggle erupted between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and accusations of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan.

In excess of 150,000 people have died in the war across the country, and approximately 12 million have left their homes in what the UN has called the world's largest humanitarian disaster.

The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed proposal to advance to democratic governance.