Sudan: fighters accused of raiding famine-stricken camp

A paramilitary group in Sudan has stormed the largest displacement camp in the country, according to a local refugee organisation, looting and setting fires to the market and multiple homes, the BBC reported on February 12th.

The Zamzam camp, located in North Darfur, has faced heavy artillery bombardment since late 2024, but this marks the first occasion that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has faced accusations of sending in fighters. An eyewitness reported to the BBC that conditions at the camp are “extremely catastrophic.” 

There have been numerous casualties, yet the camp’s hospital no longer possesses a functional surgery, the eyewitness said.

The nearby city of el-Fasher, a central location in the civil war that erupted in 2023, is already besieged by the RSF as it fights the army. 

The military and RSF had previously been partners, having ascended to power together in a coup, but they became estranged over a plan supported by the international community aimed at transitioning to civilian governance. 

The Sudanese IDPs and Refugees Bloc reported that Zamzam camp was invaded on February 11th. 

However, a spokesman for the RSF refuted claims that their fighters had invaded the camp, asserting that they had taken control of a nearby military base belonging to an armed group allied with the Sudanese military, which had been shelling RSF checkpoints for days.

Zamzam accommodates approximately half a million displaced individuals who were already effected by famine. 

Reports indicate that the assault compelled thousands to flee once more. The crisis in Sudan has come under fire, with the United Nations denouncing a series of attacks on civilians across the country.

Ibrahim Abdullah Khater, North Darfur’s Health Minister, informed the BBC that the injured from the attack were unable to reach el-Fasher for medical care due to the RSF obstructing the road and stopping access to the city. 

“The ones suffering the most are the displaced people,” Khater said.

The humanitarian crisis escalated late last year when Zamzam came under intense artillery assault, an act that aid organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), attributed to the RSF.

In December 2024, a group of international non-governmental organisations released a statement declaring that the assaults on Zamzam represented “an escalation in violence on a site which has previously been spared from active hostilities,” although it was “consistent with a pattern of attacks” on other camps for displaced individuals. 

“This underscores the reality that there are now no safe places for people to flee to in North Darfur,” it stated. 

The siege of el-Fasher commenced last April, a year into the conflict. It remains the only city still under the control of the army in Darfur, where the RSF has been accused of conducting ethnic cleansing against non-Arab people.

BBC