Over 60,000 Escape Sudan's City Following Takeover by Rapid Support Forces Militia, United Nations States

Refugees fleeing violence in Sudan
Many are trying to reach the town of Tawila but experience harassment, demands for money and mistreatment from armed men during their journey

According to the UNHCR, over 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary RSF recently.

Accounts suggest summary killings and human rights violations as militia members stormed the city following an year-and-a-half siege marked by famine and sustained attacks.

The flow of those escaping the violence towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, per United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

Refugees were narrating shocking accounts of abuses, featuring sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to locate sufficient housing and nourishment for them.

All children was suffering from malnutrition, she added.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 individuals are still stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final bastion in the western region of Darfur.

The RSF has denied widespread accusations that the killings in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and resemble a practice of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on ethnic minorities.

However the RSF has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.

The organization released video depicting the fighter's arrest after identification that he was responsible for the killing of multiple non-combatants close to el-Fasher.

Digital platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the channel connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had controlled the account in his identity.

Sudan was entered a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal power struggle broke out between its army and the RSF.

This has caused a starvation emergency and allegations of mass killing in the western Sudan.

More than 150,000 individuals have died in the war throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian crisis.

The takeover of el-Fasher strengthens the geographic split in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of western Sudan and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the Red Sea.

The opposing sides had been collaborators - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported proposal to transition to civilian leadership.

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