🔗 Share this article In excess of 60,000 Escape Sudan's City Following Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Militia, United Nations Says Many are attempting to reach the settlement of Tawila but experience harassment, extortion and abuse from militiamen along the way Per the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces recently. Reports indicate mass executions and human rights violations as paramilitary forces entered the city after an extended blockade characterized by famine and heavy bombardment. The exodus of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, according to United Nations refugee agency representative. Refugees were describing horrendous tales of abuses, including rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them. All children was suffering from malnutrition, she commented. Estimates suggest that over 150,000 individuals are presently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining fortress in the western region of Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces has disputed broad accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and resemble a trend of the Arab fighters focusing on non-Arab communities. Nevertheless the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions. The group distributed recordings showing the member's detention after confirmation that he was involved in the death of numerous unarmed men in the vicinity of el-Fasher. Digital platform has confirmed that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the account in his identity. Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal struggle for power began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces. It has resulted in a food crisis and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan. Over 150,000 persons have died in the war throughout the country, and about 12 million have left their dwellings in what the United Nations has termed the most extensive humanitarian disaster. The capture of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of Sudan's west and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the army occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region. The two warring rivals had been collaborators - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an foreign-endorsed plan to advance to civilian rule.