Violence engulfs besieged Zamzam camp in Sudan’s Darfur region

The conflict in Sudan that erupted two years ago has unleashed waves of ethnic violence, created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and plunged several areas of the country into famine.

In April, the fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spilled into one of the largest encampments for people displaced by years of warfare: the vast Zamzam camp in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, home to around half a million people.

Witnesses described the moment RSF men poured into Zamzam displacement camp on April 11, looting and burning homes as shells rained down and drones flew overhead. The RSF seized the massive camp in April following days of shelling, drone attacks and ground assaults that the United Nations says left at least 300 people dead and forced around 400,000 to flee, one of the worst violations since the war began.

The capture of Zamzam comes as the RSF tries to consolidate its control over the Darfur region. The camp is near the city of al-Fashir, home to 1.8 million people and the last significant holdout from the RSF in Darfur.

The RSF did not respond to a request for comment. It has denied accusations of atrocities and said the camp was being used as a base by forces loyal to the army. Humanitarian groups have denounced the raid as a targeted attack on civilians already facing famine.

Caught between opposing forces

The Sudanese army and RSF had been in a fragile partnership since staging a coup in October 2021, which derailed a transition to democracy after the ouster of Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir two years previously.

The two sides clashed over an internationally backed plan that would have launched a new transition with civilian parties and required the army and the RSF to cede powers.

Specific points of dispute were the timetable for the RSF to be integrated into the regular armed forces, the chain of command between the army and RSF leaders, and the question of civilian oversight.

The warring parties had also been in competition over sprawling business interests, which they were seeking to protect.

Victory in the nearby city of al-Fashir would boost the RSF’s efforts to establish a parallel government in the western regions of Sudan it controls. Elsewhere, the army has been on the upswing lately, retaking control of the capital Khartoum in March.

Satellite images showed widespread fire damage across the camp consistent with accounts from witnesses who said RSF fighters had set buildings in the camp on fire to sow terror.

Reuters could not independently verify those witness reports. RSF has denied them.

Before launching its attack, the RSF had been besieging the area and aid had been cut off for months from reaching the sprawling camp.

The camp has expanded during more than 20 years of sporadic conflict in Sudan to shelter nearly 500,000 predominantly non-Arab people, reflecting the enduring humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Reuters has documented allegations of ethnically targeted violence by Arab paramilitary commanders in Darfur against the ethnic-African Masalit tribe during the current conflict.

In an August 2024 report, the U.N.-backed Famine Review Committee found that famine - which is confirmed when acute malnutrition and mortality criteria are met - was ongoing in Zamzam camp.

The committee reported: “Restrictions on humanitarian access, including intentional impediments imposed by the active parties to the conflict, have severely restricted the capability of aid organisations to scale up their response efforts effectively.”

“Basic human needs for health services, water, food, nutrition, shelter and protection are not being met.”

Aid workers say the army has obstructed humanitarian access during the war while the RSF has looted large quantities of aid that has got through. Both sides deny impeding relief efforts.

Flooding last year swamped water points in the camp, raising the risk of cholera and other diseases in an area already facing extreme levels of malnutrition.

Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization that provides care in conflict zones, estimated in February 2024 that an estimated one child was dying on average every two hours in Zamzam as a result of disease and malnutrition.

According to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the camp has been “nearly emptied” since intense shelling and ground attacks began around April 10.

The International Organization for Migration reported that as of April 17 more than 300,000 people had been displaced to other areas within North Darfur and Central Darfur. The majority had fled to either Tawila or al-Fashir.

In recent weeks, the RSF has continued to besiege al-Fashir. On May 1, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said the “horror unfolding in Sudan knows no bounds” and said there was an “ominous warning by the RSF of ‘bloodshed’ ahead of imminent battles with the Sudanese Armed Forces.”

“Everything must be done to protect civilians trapped amid dire conditions in and around [al- Fashir],” he said.

In March, Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention by allegedly arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to impose emergency measures ordering the Emirates to prevent genocidal acts in Darfur.

The UAE has repeatedly dismissed the filing of the case as a political game and has argued that the ICJ, also known as the World Court, has no legal power to hear Sudan’s claim. It has asked the judges to throw out the case.

Major events during the conflict in Sudan