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According to the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 people have fled the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the militia Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.

Reports indicate multiple executions and human rights violations as RSF fighters stormed the city after an extended encirclement marked by food shortages and heavy bombardment.

The exodus of those escaping the fighting towards the town of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had accelerated in the last several days, per United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

Survivors were telling horrendous tales of atrocities, featuring rape, and the agency was finding it difficult to find enough shelter and nourishment for them.

All children was suffering from nutritional deficiencies, she added.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 people are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the army's final bastion in the western part of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has rejected broad allegations that the deaths in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and mirror a pattern of the Arab fighters attacking ethnic minorities.

Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in extrajudicial killings.

The group shared recordings revealing the fighter's apprehension following identification that he was involved in the death of numerous civilians near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has verified that it has banned the account associated with Lulu. Uncertainty exists whether he had operated the profile in his name.

Sudan was plunged into a internal conflict in April 2023 when a brutal contest for control broke out between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has caused a starvation emergency and allegations of ethnic cleansing in the western Darfur region.

More than 150,000 individuals have lost their lives in the war around the country, and about 12 million have fled their residences in what the UN has called the most extensive humanitarian disaster.

The seizure of el-Fasher solidifies the regional separation in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in command of Sudan's west and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the southern area, and the army occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been collaborators - coming to power together in a takeover in 2021 - but disagreed over an internationally backed initiative to move towards civilian leadership.