According to the United Nations refugee organization, in excess of 60,000 civilians have left the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.
Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters took control of the city after an extended encirclement characterized by starvation and heavy bombardment.
The movement of those running from the fighting towards the town of Tawila, approximately 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the recent days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.
Refugees were narrating terrible accounts of atrocities, such as sexual violence, and the agency was struggling to secure sufficient housing and nourishment for them.
Every child was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she added.
Calculations indicate that over 150,000 residents are presently stranded in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining fortress in the western part of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces has denied broad allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a practice of the Arab paramilitaries focusing on ethnic minorities.
However the paramilitary group has arrested one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been charged with summary executions.
The organization distributed footage showing the member's detention following verification that he was behind the execution of numerous non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher.
Video sharing service has acknowledged that it has suspended the account associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the account in his identity.
Sudan was entered a internal conflict in April 2023 following a brutal power struggle broke out between its army and the RSF.
This has resulted in a food crisis and claims of mass killing in the western Sudan.
In excess of 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the conflict around the country, and about 12 million have fled their residences in what the UN has termed the most extensive humanitarian emergency.
The seizure of el-Fasher strengthens the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in dominance of the western region and significant areas of neighbouring Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.
The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an globally supported plan to move towards civilian leadership.
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Samuel Berry
Samuel Berry