RSF accused of atrocities in North Darfur as attacks on displaced civilians escalate 

13 April 2024

Since Thursday, Rapid Support Forces have targeted three locations within North Darfur State: Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps for the internally displaced in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, along with the eastern town of Umm Kadada. A deadly ground attack on the displacement camps has left at least 74 dead and scores more wounded, according to the Sudanese army, although others estimate over 100 deaths.

Since Friday, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps with heavy artillery, located south and north of El Fasher, respectively. The camps, Zamzam and Abu Shouk, provide temporary homes to more than 700,000 people, many of whom are facing famine-like conditions.

The attack launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from several axes comes hours after a 72-hour deadline announced by the RSF and their allies from the armed movements under the Sudan Founding Alliance for the exit of civilians from the city of El Fasher and the displaced from the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps.

Members of the RSF posted videos on social media of themselves inside the camp, firing live ammunition, and showing the bodies of dead civilians lying on the ground.

“These heinous attacks represent full-fledged war crimes and crimes against humanity that do not expire with the passage of time,” said Adam Rijal, the official spokesperson for the IDP camps in Darfur. “With every passing minute, the suffering is exacerbated by the bombing, siege, insecurity, movement restrictions, and the suspension of communications services,” the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur said in a statement.

The RSF have referred to their attack as “a successful liberation of the camp from the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allies from the Islamic terrorist movement and affirmed armed mercenary movements that used the camp as military barracks and innocent civilians as human shields.”

The paramilitary RSF are seeking to seize control of the Darfur region in western Sudan, along with political moves to form a parallel government following the announcement of the Sudan Founding Alliance, which includes armed movements and civilian forces.

Meanwhile, the army is fighting in El Fasher in alliance with the Joint Forces, which comprise armed movements that signed a peace agreement with the government in 2020, most notably the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arko Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement led by Jibril Ibrahim.

Targeting medical facilities

The Sudanese Doctors Network reported that the RSF killed 10 medical personnel in North Darfur State over the past two days, including the medical director of Umm Kadada Hospital and nine other medical personnel working in Zamzam camp.

“The Rapid Support Forces killed all nine members of the medical and administrative staff of the international relief organisation Relief International at the Zamzam camp hospital, in addition to the medical director of Umm Kadada Hospital and 16 children from a Quranic school,” said Ibrahim Abdullah, the state health ministry director-general for the army-controlled government. In an interview with Ayin, the government official indicated that the RSF renewed artillery shelling of the camp on Sunday.

According to a statement by Relief International, the RSF and allied forces decimated the central market in Zamzam along with hundreds of makeshift homes. “We understand that this was a targeted attack on all health infrastructure in the region to prevent access to healthcare for internally displaced people,” the statement read. “We are horrified that one of our clinics was also part of this attack — along with other health facilities in El Fasher.”

Survivors of Zamzam

Even those who managed to escape the violence in Zamzam faced additional targeting by armed groups in their flight to safer areas. Mona Adam Osman, a child, managed to flee Zamzam camp with her family but only met further devastation along their journey to Tawila, North Darfur State. According to Mona and her family, the road out of Zamzam was “littered with the bodies of elderly men” who were unable to escape the violence. On two occasions, gunmen stopped them during their journey. After escaping capture by armed men in one incident, other armed men on camels stopped them again and looted everything they possessed, including clothes, blankets, and food.

Eventually, Mona and her family reached the Tawila area, where emergency room volunteers greeted them with drinking water, dates, and a mixture of water and flour to help stave off their hunger. Currently, they are living outdoors, waiting for aid.

Umm Kadada

In Umm Kadada, roughly 142 kilometres east of El Fasher, the local emergency room accuse the RSF of killing the hospital’s medical director after controlling the town, in addition to arresting the local executive director. On Saturday, a video posted by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) members on social media showed the executive director of Umm Kadada’s locality being arrested in front of RSF members. The arrest came two days after he recorded a speech outside his office in the locality, denying that the RSF had taken control of the area and that the popular resistance had confronted them.

According to a statement from volunteers at the local emergency response rooms, the RSF have killed over 50 people in the town. A member of the Umm Kadada local emergency room told Ayin that it is difficult to confirm the total figure of casualties because the RSF looted their Starlink device, which was used for satellite internet access.