🔗 Share this article In excess of 60,000 Flee Sudan's City Following Capture by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Says Many seek to get to the town of Tawila but face harassment, demands for money and mistreatment from fighters during their journey According to the UNHCR, more than 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently. Reports indicate multiple executions and atrocities as RSF fighters stormed the city following an extended encirclement marked by famine and heavy bombardment. The movement of those running from the conflict towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, according to UNHCR spokesperson. Survivors were describing terrible accounts of abuses, such as rape, and the agency was struggling to find enough shelter and supplies for them. Each child was affected by malnutrition, she added. It is estimated that in excess of 150,000 people are still trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's last fortress in the western part of Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces has denied broad claims that the killings in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and resemble a pattern of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab communities. However the paramilitary group has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions. The group distributed recordings showing the fighter's arrest following identification that he was behind the killing of several non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher. Digital platform has confirmed that it has removed the account linked to Lulu. It is not clear whether he had controlled the profile in his name. Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a vicious struggle for power began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces. This has caused a famine and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan. Over 150,000 persons have been killed in the conflict around the country, and roughly 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the United Nations has called the most extensive humanitarian emergency. The seizure of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the coastal region. The competing factions had been partners - gaining control together in a takeover in 2021 - but disagreed over an foreign-endorsed initiative to move towards civilian rule.