🔗 Share this article Over 60,000 Run from Sudanese City In the wake of Capture by Rapid Support Forces Militia, UN Reports Numerous are trying to get to the settlement of Tawila but experience harassment, demands for money and mistreatment from militiamen during their journey Per the United Nations refugee organization, over 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia RSF during the weekend. There have been multiple executions and atrocities as paramilitary forces stormed the city after an 18-month blockade characterized by starvation and intense shelling. The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the community of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, per UNHCR representative. They were describing shocking accounts of abuses, including rape, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to secure adequate housing and nourishment for them. Every child was affected by undernourishment, she added. Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 people are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final stronghold in the western region of Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces has denied extensive claims that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a pattern of the Arab militia groups attacking non-Arab communities. Yet the paramilitary group has detained one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with extrajudicial killings. The group distributed footage revealing the militiaman's arrest after identification that he was behind the death of numerous non-combatants close to el-Fasher. Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has banned the account connected to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the profile in his name. Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 following a vicious contest for control erupted between its army and the RSF. This has led to a starvation emergency and allegations of genocide in the Darfur area. More than 150,000 persons have died in the war throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have left their homes in what the United Nations has called the biggest global humanitarian emergency. The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of western Sudan and much of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military controlling the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region. The two warring rivals had been collaborators - gaining control together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an foreign-endorsed initiative to transition to civilian rule.