Cairo: Up to 400,000 people have been displaced from Sudan’s Zamzam camp in North Darfur following its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. The figures represent between 60,000 and 80,000 households uprooted amid escalating violence in the region.
The RSF seized the camp on Sunday after launching a four-day assault. Sudanese government officials and aid groups report that the fighting resulted in hundreds of casualties, with preliminary data indicating more than 300 civilians killed in clashes on Friday and Saturday around the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps, as well as the nearby town of al-Fashir.
Up to 400,000 people have been displaced from Sudan's Zamzam camp in North Darfur after it was taken over by the Rapid Support Forces, according to a UN agency https://t.co/9hk4nx9fwQ pic.twitter.com/ZRgFNZUzCX
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Among those killed were 10 humanitarian workers from Relief International, who had been operating one of the last remaining health centers in Zamzam camp, a U.N. spokesperson confirmed.
Rights organizations have repeatedly warned of potential atrocities if the RSF were to take control of Zamzam camp, which borders the Sudanese army’s final stronghold in Darfur—al-Fashir. These fears have only intensified amid satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing burning structures and thick plumes of smoke rising from the area, consistent with previous RSF assaults.
While the RSF has denied allegations of targeting civilians, it claims the Zamzam camp was being used as a military base by army-aligned forces.
Before the current wave of violence, Zamzam camp was already home to around half a million displaced individuals. That number is believed to have nearly doubled since the onset of the war in April 2023, which erupted due to a power struggle between Sudan’s military and the RSF, derailing the country’s path to civilian governance.
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In a video released by the RSF, Abdelrahim Dagalo, the group’s second-in-command, is seen addressing a group of displaced civilians, assuring them of food, water, medical support, and eventual resettlement.
Following the Sudanese army’s recent success in retaking the capital Khartoum, the RSF has stepped up its military operations in the Darfur region. Drone attacks on army-held territory have also intensified, including a strike on the Atbara power station in northern Sudan on Monday, which plunged the wartime capital of Port Sudan into darkness, according to the national electricity provider.
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As the conflict stretches into its second year, it continues to ravage vast parts of the country, displacing millions and worsening a growing famine crisis.
