60,000+ flee El-Fasher after the RSF militia takes control of Sudanese city
More than 60,000 people have left Sudan’s el-Fasher after the RSF was captured. There are stories of executions, starvation, and a lot of suffering.
The UN refugee agency says that more than 60,000 people have left the Sudanese city of el-Fasher since it was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over the weekend.
Eujin Byun from the UNHCR talked about how many people had to leave their homes and head west to Tawila, which is about 80 km from El-Fasher, after the capture.
“They are telling horrible stories of horrible crimes, like rape.” “Every child is malnourished, and it’s hard for us to give them enough food and shelter,” Byun said.
The city was the army’s last refuge in western Darfur. It had been besieged for 18 months, with bombs going off and people going hungry. The UN says that more than 150,000 people are still trapped in el-Fasher and are facing very serious humanitarian disasters.
Reports say that during the RSF’s takeover, there were mass killings and crimes against humanity. The RSF has said that they are not targeting non-Arab people because of their race, but one militiaman, Abu Lulu, was arrested after being tied to several summary executions in the city. The RSF shared video of his arrest, and since then, TikTok has banned an account that was linked to him.
Sudan’s conflict started in April 2023, after the army and the RSF, who had been friends before the coup in 2021, fought violently over power. Over 150,000 people have died in the civil war, and about 12 million have been forced to leave their homes. The UN calls this the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.
The country is now geographically split in two: the RSF controls western Sudan and Kordofan, and the army controls Khartoum, the middle part of the country, and the eastern parts along the Red Sea.
International experts say that the ongoing crisis in Darfur is a sign of rising racial and political violence, with civilians continuing to suffer the most from the terrible effects of the conflict.
