Sudan’s conflict has taken another deadly turn after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a violent assault on a famine-stricken displacement camp near el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, killing 40 people, local rights groups reported.
The Emergency Response Rooms, a community activist group operating at the Abu Shouk displacement camp, confirmed the attack in a statement posted on Facebook. The group said the RSF, which has been engaged in a brutal war with the Sudanese military, raided parts of the camp and targeted civilians inside their homes. At least 19 people were injured in the assault.
Home to roughly 450,000 displaced people, Abu Shouk camp has faced repeated attacks since the war began. Although the Sudanese army maintains control over el-Fasher, the city has been subjected to frequent RSF strikes.
The Resistance Committees in el-Fasher, another grassroots network of local citizens and human rights activists, corroborated the reports, describing the scene as one that “reflected the extent of the horrific violations committed against innocent, defenseless people.”
The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University released satellite images showing 40 vehicles inside the Abu Shouk camp on Monday. According to the lab, these were located in the camp’s northwest neighborhoods, consistent with eyewitness accounts of the RSF’s presence.
In its report, Yale HRL said it had gathered and analyzed visual evidence allegedly “showing RSF shooting at people crawling away from them and berating and using ethnic slurs.”
Additional satellite imagery from Saturday appeared to show RSF forces blocking escape routes from el-Fasher by controlling key points along the road to Kutum, north of the city, as well as an opening toward Mellit in North Darfur.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading nationwide following long-simmering tensions between the RSF and the Sudanese army. Fighting has so far killed more than 40,000 people, displaced an estimated 12 million, and pushed large parts of the country toward famine. Humanitarian agencies have identified Abu Shouk as one of two camps in the country facing the most severe hunger conditions.
Army Claims Victory After Fierce Battle
According to the Sudanese army, clashes with RSF fighters erupted in el-Fasher on Monday at around 6 a.m. and continued until the afternoon. The military claimed it repelled a “large-scale attack from several axes by the terrorist militia”, destroying more than 16 combat vehicles, burning others, and capturing 34 vehicles, including armored cars.
On its Telegram channel, the RSF claimed it had made advances in el-Fasher and seized military equipment, though it offered no further details.
Darfur Governor Mini Arko Minawi weighed in on the fighting, writing on Facebook that el-Fasher “triumphed over those who betrayed their land”, in what appeared to be a reference to the RSF.
Meanwhile, in North Kordofan province, the RSF has been accused of displacing more than 3,000 families from 66 villages since early August. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the paramilitary force looted property, stole money, and took livestock from the displaced. The families fled to Khartoum and White Nile provinces last week.
The United Nations reported that the violence in North Kordofan killed 18 civilians and injured dozens more. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned of the “extreme dire situation” in Sudan, while Edem Wosornum, operations and advocacy director at the U.N.’s humanitarian affairs agency, said that in el-Fasher alone, over 60 people, mostly women and children, died from malnutrition in the space of just one week.
With famine tightening its grip and violence spreading, humanitarian groups warn that the toll on civilians could escalate sharply unless both sides agree to halt attacks on vulnerable populations.
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