Sudan: Dozens killed in refugee camp attack
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. Last week, shelling and gunfire shook the streets as the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army for nearly two years, stormed the famine-stricken camp in the Darfur region, turning the site into a "killing field". (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
At least 40 people were killed in an 11th August attack on a refugee camp in Sudan’s western Darfur region, according to the BBC. This comes amid escalating violence between rival armed groups, which has displaced hundreds of thousands and deepened the humanitarian crisis in the conflict-torn region.
The Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room, the primary aid network active across Darfur, stated that the 1st August assault was carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The internal resistance committee in nearby el-Fasher city also reported the same story.
El-Fasher, the second-largest city in Darfur, also came under intense attack. The city is the last major foothold in the region for the Sudanese army and its allies, which have been fighting the paramilitary RSF in the two-year civil war. The conflict has triggered a wide-scale humanitarian crisis, with the UN and other aid organisations warning that families trapped in the region face starvation and famine. Sources have claimed that over 12 million Sudanese civilians have been forced from their homes.
Sudanese media have reported that the camp was caught in the crossfire of fighting in El-Fasher. However, aid groups have refuted this claim, stating that some of those killed in Abu Shouk were gunned down indiscriminately. The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab has further corroborated this claim, with it investigating videos allegedly showing RSF shooting at people crawling away from them and using ethnic slurs.
The Abu Shuk camp was created over two decades ago by people from Sudan’s non-Arab majority, including the Fur and Zaghawa ethnic groups. These groups set up the refugee camp due to the number of individuals fleeing attacks by the Janjaweed militia.
The RSF formed out of this militia, which has widely been accused of ethnic cleansing across Darfur against minority groups. As a result, various nations, including the US, have sanctioned it with allegations of genocide.
Refugee camps across Western Sudan have frequently come under attack throughout the war, with over 100 people being killed in a similar attack in the nearby Zamzam camp.
Since the Sudanese Civil War began in 2023, due to long-term power struggles between Generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo following the ousting of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, tens of thousands of civilians have died, and famine has been declared in parts of the country.
BBC Africa, Maghrebi.org
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