Over 60,000 Flee Sudanese City After Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, United Nations Reports

Refugees escaping violence in the region
Numerous are attempting to get to the settlement of Tawila but encounter intimidation, demands for money and abuse from armed men along the way

Per the UNHCR, more than 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary RSF over the weekend.

Accounts suggest mass executions and atrocities as militia members stormed the city following an 18-month siege featuring starvation and intense shelling.

The movement of those running from the conflict towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the past few days, according to United Nations refugee agency representative.

They were telling terrible accounts of atrocities, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was struggling to find enough accommodation and food for them.

Every child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she added.

It is estimated that in excess of 150,000 residents are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has rejected broad allegations that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a pattern of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on non-Arab communities.

Nevertheless the paramilitary group has custodied one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings.

The group released video revealing the militiaman's detention subsequent to identification that he was behind the killing of numerous civilians near el-Fasher.

Digital platform has acknowledged that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the profile in his identity.

Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a brutal power struggle broke out between its army and the RSF.

It has led to a starvation emergency and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.

In excess of 150,000 persons have died in the conflict throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the United Nations has described as the biggest global humanitarian emergency.

The seizure of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of the western region and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the main city, Khartoum, the center and east along the Red Sea.

The opposing sides had been collaborators - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to move towards democratic governance.

Lisa Cole
Lisa Cole

Mira is a data scientist and tech writer specializing in analytics tools and digital transformation strategies.