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According to the UN refugee agency, more than 60,000 civilians have fled the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was seized by the militia RSF over the weekend.

Accounts suggest mass executions and human rights violations as militia members took control of the city following an year-and-a-half siege characterized by food shortages and intense shelling.

The flow of those escaping the fighting towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) west of el-Fasher, had increased in the past few days, per United Nations refugee agency representative.

They were describing horrendous tales of atrocities, including rape, and the agency was struggling to secure adequate accommodation and supplies for them.

Each child was affected by undernourishment, she added.

Estimates suggest that in excess of 150,000 individuals are presently trapped in el-Fasher, which had been the military's remaining bastion in the western part of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has rejected widespread claims that the deaths in el-Fasher are based on ethnic factors and mirror a practice of the Arab militia groups targeting non-Arab communities.

Yet the RSF has custodied one of its members, Abu Lulu, who has been accused of summary executions.

The force shared footage revealing the fighter's arrest after identification that he was responsible for the death of multiple unarmed men near el-Fasher.

Social media platform has acknowledged that it has removed the profile associated with Lulu. It is not clear whether he had operated the profile in his name.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war in April 2023 following a intense power struggle began between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.

It has led to a starvation emergency and accusations of mass killing in the Darfur area.

More than 150,000 people have lost their lives in the war throughout the country, and about 12 million have abandoned their residences in what the UN has described as the biggest global humanitarian emergency.

The capture of el-Fasher solidifies the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of Sudan's west and significant areas of adjacent Kordofan to the south, and the military occupying the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern areas along the coastal region.

The opposing sides had been collaborators - gaining control together in a coup in 2021 - but fell out over an internationally backed initiative to transition to civilian leadership.