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According to the United Nations refugee organization, more than 60,000 civilians have escaped the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was captured by the militia RSF during the weekend.

There have been summary killings and human rights violations as militia members took control of the city following an 18-month encirclement featuring starvation and intense shelling.

The flow of those escaping the conflict towards the town of Tawila, roughly 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the last several days, according to UNHCR spokesperson.

Refugees were telling shocking accounts of atrocities, such as rape, and the humanitarian group was struggling to find sufficient shelter and food for them.

Every child was affected by malnutrition, she added.

Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 residents are currently unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the military's final bastion in the western part of Darfur.

The RSF has rejected broad allegations that the executions in el-Fasher are driven by ethnicity and follow a pattern of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.

However the paramilitary group has detained one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.

The group distributed recordings revealing the fighter's arrest after identification that he was behind the killing of multiple non-combatants in the vicinity of el-Fasher.

Social media platform has acknowledged that it has suspended the profile linked to Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had managed the profile in his name.

Sudan was plunged into a domestic fighting in April 2023 when a brutal power struggle began between its military and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has led to a food crisis and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Sudan.

In excess of 150,000 individuals have died in the fighting around the country, and about 12 million have fled their dwellings in what the United Nations has termed the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The takeover of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the RSF now in command of the western region and much of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the military occupying the main city, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been allies - taking over together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but split over an internationally backed initiative to advance to civilian leadership.