Over 60,000 Run from Sudan's City After Seizure by Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group, UN Reports

According to the UN refugee agency, in excess of 60,000 civilians have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary RSF recently.

Reports indicate multiple executions and atrocities as RSF fighters stormed the city after an extended encirclement featuring famine and sustained attacks.

The flow of those fleeing the fighting towards the community of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the recent days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

Survivors were describing horrendous tales of abuses, featuring rape, and the agency was struggling to secure adequate shelter and supplies for them.

Every child was experiencing malnutrition, she added.

Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 people are still stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining fortress in the western region of Darfur.

The RSF has denied extensive claims that the killings in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups attacking ethnic minorities.

However the paramilitary group has custodied one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in summary executions.

The force distributed video revealing the militiaman's detention following verification that he was involved in the killing of multiple unarmed men near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the profile linked to Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the account in his name.

Sudan was thrown into a civil war in April 2023 after a intense contest for control began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

This has caused a famine and claims of mass killing in the western Darfur region.

In excess of 150,000 people have been killed in the war throughout the country, and approximately 12 million have left their homes in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian crisis.

The capture of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of western Sudan and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military controlling the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.

The opposing sides had been allies - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed plan to move towards civilian leadership.