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Hundreds of people have been killed in Sudan after paramilitary forces stormed displacement camps.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, back in April of 2023, a civil war erupted in Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), kicked off by a battle for power following the 2019 ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir. The conflict, rooted in disagreements over merging the RSF into the national army and deciding who really runs the country, quickly spiraled into widespread violence, forcing many to flee their homes and throwing the nation into a deep humanitarian crisis. Both sides have committed horrific acts, particularly in places like Darfur, where old ethnic tensions have led to the genocide of civilians.
What’s going on now: According to the United Nations and multiple humanitarian organizations, the RSF launched a deadly assault on April 11 and 12, targeting the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps, as well as the city of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The RSF used artillery, kamikaze drones, and ground fighters to bombard the area before breaching the camps’ perimeter defenses after hours of sustained attacks.
In Zamzam, home to roughly 500,000 displaced civilians, fighters ransacked hundreds of homes and the central market before attacking the camp’s last functioning medical clinic. All nine people working at the clinic — five medics and four drivers for Relief International — were reportedly executed on the spot. Aid workers had been warned to flee the day before, but with escape routes blocked and patients needing urgent care, they chose to stay.
The UN has previously declared famine conditions in Zamzam, with food insecurity at catastrophic levels. Relief organizations have called the camps humanitarian lifelines, providing limited food, water, and medical care despite constant risk and deteriorating security. The destruction of the Zamzam clinic has left thousands without access to any form of medical assistance.
This all comes as the RSF has denied responsibility for civilian deaths, dismissing video footage of corpses shared online as “fake.” The group claimed that reports of atrocities are “a desperate attempt to criminalize” their operations.
