ISTANBUL

Thousands of displaced families have walked long distances without food and water to flee violence in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Saturday.

“In Tawila, North Darfur, thousands of families are fleeing violence in El-Fasher, arriving exhausted, hungry & malnourished,” the UN agency said in a statement on the US social media company X.

Abubakar Ahmed, a UNICEF nutrition specialist, said more than 6,000 people fled from El-Fasher to Tawila last week because of the war, most of them women and children, and the displaced continue to arrive daily.

The displaced “came in a very bad, poor condition due to the long roads” between the two cities, which stretch over 60 kilometers, he said.

Ahmed noted that the displaced families travel on foot for four days, and some take five days or more.

“The displaced face major challenges along the way, with some being beaten, while others spend days without food or water,” he said. “When they arrive – really, they looked thirsty, and most of them are malnourished, even children and adults.”

Many children arrived without their families and do not know where they are, the UNICEF specialist said.

Undersecretary of Sudan’s Ministry of Social Welfare Salma Ishaq told Al Jazeera that 25 women were raped and 300 others killed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters in El-Fasher.

The World Health Organization’s regional director, meanwhile, called for protecting health facilities in El-Fasher and ensuring unhindered humanitarian access.

The official, citing a doctor at El-Fasher Hospital, said that patients are dying due to a shortage of medical supplies.

The displacement comes after the paramilitary RSF captured El-Fasher on Sunday after clashes with the Sudanese army.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group on the UNICEF statement.

Early on Saturday, the medical group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed concern for the lives of thousands of civilians trapped inside El-Fasher following the RSF’s takeover of the city.

MSF said its teams in Tawila had prepared to deal with a mass influx of displaced people and wounded individuals after the city’s fall to the RSF.

On Wednesday, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) admitted that “violations” had occurred by his forces in El-Fasher, claiming that investigation committees had been formed.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that numerous regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed about 20,000 people and displaced over 15 million as refugees and internally displaced persons, according to UN and local reports.