Sudan: Eight dead after RSF shelling on displacement camp
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have shelled a displacement camp in Sudan’s Darfur region, killing eight civilians and injuring others, according to Asharq Al-Aswat on July 17th.
The assault was on Abu-Shouk camp, which shelters tens of thousands of displaced people surrounding the city of El-Fasher – the capital of North Darfur which has been besieged by the RSF since May 2024.
El-Fasher is the final major military stronghold in Sudan’s western Darfur, a region which is otherwise under total RSF control. The paramilitary group has recently intensified its assault on the city in a bid to flush out the military remnants and seize total command over the city.
Sudan has been devastated by a bloody civil war between the RSF and Sudanese military, which erupted in April 2023 as part of a power struggle between the two groups.
“The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF… killing eight people,” the Emergency Response Room of the camp outlined in a statement. The region in which the assault took place is already gripped by famine, predominantly in displacement camps, compounding the suffering of civilians.
The recent bombardment comes just days after the RSF launched a series of extremely violent raids on numerous villages in North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum. According to a UNICEF statement, over 450 people, including 35 children, were killed during the assault.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel stated that “no child should ever experience such horrors… violence against children is unconscionable and must end now.”
On a July 13th statement posted on its telegram channel, the RSF claimed to have killed over 470 army personnel near the North Kordofan town of El-Obeid.
Verification of the extent of the casualties has been challenging due to disruptions to communication within an environment of already restricted access to conflict zones.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced roughly 14 million more, creating what has been identified by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
According to the UN, famine was confirmed in three displacement camps close to El-Fasher in August 2024, namely Abu Shouk, Zamzam and Al-Salam. The World Food Programme warns that a total of 24.6 million Sudanese – roughly half the population – are facing acute food insecurity. A further 637,000 are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, which is the highest amount of people in such conditions anywhere in the world.
RSF fighters seized control of the Zamzan displacement camp in April 2025, which is in close proximity to the Abu Shouk displacement camp. The seizure displaced almost 400,000 civilians, effectively emptying one of the largest camps in Sudan.
Mohamed el-Nour, a Sudanese analyst, told AFP that the RSF is seeking to redefine its role in the conflict.
“Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan.”
On July 1st, the RSF’s leader, Hemedti, was appointed to head The Foundation Alliance, a coalition of political parties and rebel groups seeking to form a rival government to the military-backed administration.
El-Nour added that the recent RSF attacks on villages in North Kordofan were likely a ploy to divert military attention and resources away from El-Fasher, where it is trying “at all costs” to cling on to.
Asharq Al-Aswat, Maghrebi.org, UNICEF, World Food Programme
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