There has been a significant increase in the number of people fleeing fresh violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur, a medical charity says.
Witnesses have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied militias of carrying out ethnic killings against non-Arabs in West Darfur.
The RSF did not immediately comment on the claims but it had earlier said it was not involved in what it described as a “tribal conflict”.
Seven thousand people have crossed over the Sudanese border into Chad in three days, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says.
Among them are dozens of wounded people. MSF says the refugees are mainly women and children who are fleeing the violence with nothing.
Reuters news agency reports a trail of men crossing from Darfur into Chad at Adre, about 27 km (17 miles) west of state capital, El Geneina.
Some have told journalists about atrocities carried out in areas of West Darfur that have just been captured by the RSF.
The UN refugee agency says “an unimaginable” humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Sudan.
Nearly six million people have been displaced since the war between the Sudanese army and RSF started in mid-April.
More than 500,000 people have crossed into Chad, mostly from West Darfur, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says.
The rival forces have made no progress towards a ceasefire in their latest talks, instead they agreed to facilitating aid deliveries, host Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday.