Thousands flee to overcrowded camps after Sudan’s paramilitary captures el-Fasher
CAIRO AP Tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled to overcrowded camps to escape communicated atrocities by a paramilitary force since it captured el-Fasher in the western Darfur region an aid group commented Saturday and the U N human rights chief warned that various others are still trapped Those who reach shelter in Tawila about kilometers miles from el-Fasher find themselves stranded in a barren area with barely enough tents numerous of them improvised from patched tarps and sheets according to a video posted by the group Sudan s IDPs and Refugee Camps It shows children running across the area as a scarce adults carry a large pot of food hoping it will be enough to feed the growing crowds of displaced Since the Rapid Sponsorship Forces seized el-Fasher from the rival military Oct more than people have fled to the camps in Tawila revealed Adam Rojal spokesperson for the aid group The International Organization for Migration estimates that around people had fled the city and surrounding areas as of Nov heading to safe spots including Tawila an area already overcrowded with the displaced from previous attacks with selected making the journey on foot The RSF and the Sudanese army have been at war since April following simmering tensions over control of Africa s third-largest nation At least people have been killed according to the World Vitality Organization though the actual toll might be various times higher Chosen million people have been displaced and nearly half the population are facing acute food insecurity Last week the RSF seized el-Fasher after an -month siege The paramilitary rampaged through the Saudi Hospital in the city killing over people according to the WHO and went house to house killing civilians and committing sexual assaults The RSF has denied killing anyone at the Saudi hospital but testimonies from those fleeing online videos and satellite images offer an apocalyptic vision of the attack The aid group Doctors Without Borders announced Friday that people arrived in Tawila on Thursday alone after fleeing el-Fasher MSF teams shared extremely high levels of malnutrition among children and adults The displaced in Tawila are in urgent need of food medicine shelter materials and psychosocial sponsorship Rojal notified The Associated Press He commented that families often survive on just two meals a day and sometimes only one U N Human Rights Chief Volker T rk warned that those left behind in el-Fasher are at liability Currently traumatized civilians are still trapped inside el-Fasher and are being prevented from leaving he noted Friday in Geneva I fear that the abominable atrocities such as summary executions rape and ethnically motivated violence are continuing within the city he added And for those who manage to flee the violence does not end as the exit routes themselves have been the scenes of unimaginable cruelty Fighting escalates despite ceasefire proposal On Thursday the RSF announced it has agreed to a humanitarian truce proposed by a U S -led mediator group known as the Quad Meanwhile the army stated it welcomes the Quad s proposal but will only agree to it if RSF withdraw from civilian areas and give up their weapons The fighting has spread across Darfur and to the neighboring Kordofan region with both emerging as the epicenter of Sudan s war over the past months Early this week a drone attack in el-Obeid the capital of North Kordofan province killed at least people and wounded dozens more A military official recounted the AP on Saturday that the army intercepted two Chinese-made drones that targeted el-Obeid on Saturday morning The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information Jalale Getachew Birru an analyst for East Africa with Armed Conflict Location and Event Figures explained in a declaration Friday that the fall of el-Fasher and rising violence in North Kordofan mark a strategic success for the RSF but exacerbate human suffering He estimated that at least people were killed across Sudan in a single week between Oct and Nov These events not only deepen Sudan s humanitarian emergency but also signal the RSF s growing limit to expand toward central Sudan threatening to reverse the success of the Sudanese armed forces and returning the violence to the relatively calm central Sudan explained Birru Source
