More than 60,000 Escape Sudan's City Following Seizure by RSF Paramilitary Group, United Nations States

According to the UNHCR, over 60,000 individuals have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces during the weekend.

There have been mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters entered the city after an 18-month siege featuring starvation and intense shelling.

The flow of those fleeing the violence towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, per UNHCR spokesperson.

Refugees were telling terrible accounts of abuses, featuring rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to secure sufficient shelter and food for them.

Each child was affected by undernourishment, she added.

Estimates suggest that over 150,000 individuals are currently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the military's last bastion in the western part of Darfur.

The RSF has rejected widespread accusations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a practice of the Arab militia groups focusing on non-Arab communities.

However the RSF has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.

The group released footage showing the fighter's apprehension following verification that he was involved in the death of several civilians in the vicinity of el-Fasher.

Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has removed the profile linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the account in his name.

Sudan was thrown into a domestic fighting in April 2023 after a intense contest for control broke out between its army and the RSF.

The conflict has resulted in a food crisis and accusations of genocide in the western Sudan.

More than 150,000 individuals have been killed in the fighting throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their dwellings in what the United Nations has termed the biggest global humanitarian crisis.

The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of western Sudan and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military holding the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been allies - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported initiative to move towards democratic governance.