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According to the UN refugee agency, over 60,000 civilians have escaped the city in Sudan of el-Fasher, which was taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over the weekend.

Reports indicate mass executions and atrocities as paramilitary forces took control of the city after an year-and-a-half siege featuring famine and sustained attacks.

The movement of those escaping the fighting towards the community of Tawila, about 80km (50 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, had grown in the past few days, according to United Nations refugee agency spokesperson.

Survivors were telling terrible stories of abuses, including rape, and the humanitarian group was having trouble to find adequate housing and food for them.

Each child was affected by malnutrition, she noted.

Calculations indicate that in excess of 150,000 residents are still unable to leave in el-Fasher, which had been the army's remaining fortress in the western part of Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces has disputed widespread claims that the executions in el-Fasher are ethnically motivated and follow a practice of the Arab militia groups focusing on non-Arab communities.

Nevertheless the paramilitary group has arrested one of its fighters, Abu Lulu, who has been implicated in on-the-spot executions.

The group released recordings showing the member's detention following confirmation that he was responsible for the killing of multiple unarmed men near el-Fasher.

Video sharing service has confirmed that it has suspended the profile associated with Lulu. The status remains unclear whether he had controlled the profile in his name.

Sudan was entered a internal conflict in April 2023 when a intense struggle for power erupted between its military and the RSF.

This has resulted in a famine and claims of mass killing in the western Darfur region.

In excess of 150,000 people have died in the fighting throughout the country, and about 12 million have left their dwellings in what the United Nations has described as the most extensive humanitarian crisis.

The takeover of el-Fasher reinforces the territorial division in the country, with the Rapid Support Forces now in control of western Sudan and much of bordering Kordofan to the south, and the army controlling the capital, Khartoum, central and eastern regions along the Red Sea.

The competing factions had been allies - coming to power together in a seizure of power in 2021 - but disagreed over an globally supported plan to advance to civilian rule.