Amnesty International is calling for a war crimes investigation into an attack carried out earlier this year by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a camp for displaced people in North Darfur.
In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group documents multiple accounts of atrocities committed by RSF fighters during a major assault on the Zamzam displacement camp. The RSF—already repeatedly accused of mass rape, indiscriminate killings, and other grave abuses since its conflict with Sudan’s military government began in April 2023—is alleged to have carried out widespread violence during the attack.
The assault occurred as the RSF intensified its siege on el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The group has since taken full control of the state and is advancing into West Kordofan, worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis and pushing millions more from their homes.
According to Amnesty’s report, the attacks on Zamzam—North Darfur’s largest camp for internally displaced people—took place between April 11 and 13. RSF fighters reportedly used explosives in densely populated areas and fired indiscriminately into residential zones.
Eyewitnesses described numerous civilian deaths, including at least 47 people who were shot while hiding in their homes, fleeing the violence, or taking shelter in a mosque.
“The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp once again exposes its shocking disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general. “Civilians were brutally attacked, killed, robbed of essential belongings, and denied access to justice.”
The report also states that RSF fighters set homes and buildings ablaze and committed acts that “may amount to” rape and pillage. The violence forced an estimated 400,000 people to flee the camp within just two days.
