🔗 Share this article More than 60,000 Flee Sudanese City Following Capture by RSF Militia, UN Reports Many are trying to get to the settlement of Tawila but experience intimidation, extortion and mistreatment from militiamen along the way As stated by the UNHCR, more than 60,000 civilians have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was seized by the paramilitary RSF recently. Reports indicate multiple executions and crimes against humanity as paramilitary forces stormed the city after an year-and-a-half encirclement featuring famine and heavy bombardment. The flow of those running from the violence towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, per United Nations refugee agency representative. They were describing horrendous stories of atrocities, including sexual violence, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to find adequate shelter and nourishment for them. Every child was experiencing nutritional deficiencies, she commented. It is estimated that more than 150,000 individuals are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final bastion in the western region of Darfur. The RSF has denied widespread claims that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups focusing on ethnic minorities. However the RSF has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions. The organization released footage showing the fighter's arrest after verification that he was behind the killing of numerous non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher. Social media platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the account linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the account in his name. Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a intense contest for control erupted between its army and the RSF. It has caused a food crisis and claims of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan. More than 150,000 persons have been killed in the war throughout the country, and roughly 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the United Nations has described as the biggest global humanitarian emergency. The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the army holding the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea. The opposing sides had been collaborators - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported initiative to move towards civilian rule.