Massacre in Darfur: Over 200 civilians killed as RSF attacks displacement camps
The RSF now controls most of Darfur and parts of southern Sudan, while the army maintains its grip on the north and east, including the recently recaptured capital, Khartoum.
More than 200 civilians have been killed in a brutal wave of attacks by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeting displacement camps and communities surrounding El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still under Sudanese army control.
Among the dead are at least 56 civilians reportedly killed in Um Kadadah, a strategic town recently seized by RSF forces located approximately 180km east of El Fasher. The town fell last week in what appears to have been an ethnically motivated assault.
According to the United Nations, the RSF has launched coordinated ground and air strikes on El Fasher and two of the region’s largest displacement camps – Zamzam and Abu Shouk – unleashing what officials describe as some of the worst violence since Sudan’s civil war reignited nearly two years ago.
“I am appalled and gravely alarmed by reports emerging from Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps as well as El Fasher town,” said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan. “These attacks are catastrophic and violate every principle of humanitarian protection.”
The Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps are home to up to 700,000 civilians displaced by previous violence and famine.
In a particularly grim development, the entire medical team of Relief International operating the last clinic inside Zamzam was reportedly killed. The aid organisation confirmed its clinic was “intentionally targeted” in what they believe was part of a wider campaign to destroy all health infrastructure.
Targeted attack
“We are horrified that one of our clinics was also part of this attack – along with other health facilities in El Fasher,” Relief International said in a statement. “This was a targeted attack on all health infrastructure to prevent access to healthcare for internally displaced people.”
Eyewitnesses and aid workers say RSF fighters set fire to buildings throughout Zamzam on Sunday, claiming they were flushing out Sudanese government forces believed to be hiding among civilians. However, humanitarian groups insist the attacks were indiscriminate and amount to war crimes.
Adam Regal, a spokesperson for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, reported continued shelling and assaults by RSF armed vehicles throughout the weekend, with hundreds injured and forced to flee once again.
“This violence is beyond comprehension,” Regal said. “People who have already lost everything are now being hunted down in places they thought were safe.”
London conference
The scale of the atrocities has intensified pressure on UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is hosting a high-level ministerial conference on Sudan in London on Tuesday.
The summit, which includes representatives from 20 countries and international organisations, aims to address the worsening humanitarian crisis and hold perpetrators accountable.
“Shocking reports are emerging from El Fasher, Darfur, where indiscriminate RSF attacks have killed civilians, including aid workers,” Lammy said on social media.
“This gives added urgency to Tuesday’s Sudan conference in London. All sides must commit to the protection of civilians.”
The RSF now controls most of Darfur and parts of southern Sudan, while the army maintains its grip on the north and east, including the recently recaptured capital, Khartoum.
The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people – a catastrophe the International Rescue Committee has labelled “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.”
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