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According to the UNHCR, in excess of 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces recently.

Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters entered the city following an year-and-a-half siege featuring starvation and intense shelling.

The movement of those escaping the violence towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the recent days, as stated by United Nations refugee agency representative.

Survivors were describing horrendous tales of violence, including rape, and the agency was having trouble to find enough housing and supplies for them.

Each child was suffering from undernourishment, she added.

Estimates suggest that more than 150,000 individuals are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining stronghold in the western part of Darfur.

The RSF has disputed widespread claims that the killings in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and mirror a trend of the Arab fighters targeting non-Arab populations.

However the RSF has arrested one of its militiamen, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of extrajudicial killings.

The force distributed recordings revealing the militiaman's apprehension after confirmation that he was responsible for the killing of numerous civilians near el-Fasher.

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

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a intense power struggle erupted between its military and the RSF.

The conflict has led to a food crisis and accusations of mass killing in the western Sudan.

Over 150,000 persons have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their residences in what the United Nations has termed the most extensive humanitarian emergency.

The capture of el-Fasher reinforces the geographic split in the country, with the RSF now in dominance of Sudan's west and a large portion of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been partners - coming to power together in a coup in 2021 - but disagreed over an foreign-endorsed initiative to advance to civilian rule.