RSF missile attack on Darfur’s Zamzam IDP camp kills and injures civilians
December 1, 2024 (EL FASHER) — The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) bombarded the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur with a barrage of long-range missiles Sunday, resulting in deaths and injuries among the displaced and forcing thousands to flee.
Zamzam camp, located southwest of El Fasher city, is one of the largest camps in North Darfur state, hosting nearly 2 million displaced people.
The number of displaced people has surged in recent months as residents of North Darfur’s capital fled there following the outbreak of fighting between the army and its allies against the RSF in the city last May.
Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that “for the first time since the start of the clashes in North Darfur state, the RSF launched about 10 missiles towards Zamzam camp, killing a number of displaced people and injuring dozens.”
Witnesses said the bombardment also destroyed numerous homes and forced the displaced to flee toward the towns of Shaqra and Saluma, west of El Fasher.
The witnesses noted that the shells fell randomly in several locations, including the Jaflo market, the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq School shelter, the al-Sharika neighbourhood, and the former headquarters of the UNAMID mission.
The governor of the Darfur region, Mini Arko Minawi, accused the RSF of targeting Zamzam camp residents based on ethnicity.
“I regret to inform the public of this sad news,” Minawi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The displaced people of Zamzam camp are currently being subjected to artillery shelling by the RSF militia. It seems this militia has blatantly decided to target the residents of Zamzam camp on ethnic and racial grounds.” Minawi strongly condemned the attack as “criminal acts”.
The El Fasher Resistance Committees said in a statement that the camp’s residents experienced terror due to the intense bombardment that hit homes, resulting in injuries and deaths.
The camp is suffering from an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the lack of aid caused by the RSF’s siege and restrictions on humanitarian and commercial convoys.
International organizations announced in August that a famine had occurred in Zamzam camp, but the Sudanese government denied this, attributing the scarcity of food and medicine to the RSF siege of El Fasher.