A newly released United Nations report has documented systematic atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons in Sudan’s Darfur region. The assault occurred during the paramilitary group’s ongoing siege of El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur state, marking a significant escalation in the country’s internal conflict.
The Zamzam camp, previously recognized as Sudan’s largest sanctuary for internally displaced persons, had provided refuge to approximately 500,000 vulnerable civilians before the April offensive. The UN investigation reveals the camp became a direct target of RSF operations as fighting intensified around the strategic city of El Fasher.
Sudan has been gripped by violent internal warfare since April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between military leadership factions erupted into open combat. The conflict primarily pits the national army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF paramilitary forces commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. What began as a power struggle between rival military leaders has evolved into a full-scale humanitarian crisis, with the Zamzam camp attack representing one of the most severe incidents against civilian populations.
The international body’s report provides comprehensive evidence of the RSF’s campaign against the displaced persons camp, detailing methods that violate international humanitarian law. The findings underscore the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Darfur, where civilian infrastructure and humanitarian shelters have increasingly become battlegrounds in the conflict between the two military factions.