🔗 Share this article In excess of 60,000 Escape Sudanese City In the wake of Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports Many seek to reach the settlement of Tawila but encounter harassment, extortion and abuse from fighters along the way As stated by the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 civilians have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces recently. There have been multiple executions and atrocities as RSF fighters entered the city after an extended blockade featuring famine and sustained attacks. The movement of those escaping the violence towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson. Survivors were describing shocking tales of atrocities, including sexual violence, and the agency was finding it difficult to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them. Every child was experiencing undernourishment, she added. Estimates suggest that over 150,000 residents are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western region of Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces has denied broad claims that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a trend of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab communities. However the paramilitary group has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions. The group released footage revealing the fighter's arrest after verification that he was behind the execution of several non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher. Social media platform has confirmed that it has removed the profile connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the profile in his identity. Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal power struggle erupted between its military and the RSF. The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and allegations of mass killing in the Darfur area. Over 150,000 individuals have been killed in the fighting throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the UN has termed the biggest global humanitarian disaster. The capture of el-Fasher solidifies the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west and a large portion of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army occupying the main city, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea. The two warring rivals had been partners - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but split over an globally supported plan to move towards civilian leadership.