The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which has clashed with Sudanese government troops for over two years, killed more than 1,000 civilians during a three-day offensive in April, the United Nations reported Thursday.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said its report “documented the killing of at least 1,013 civilians in the context of the RSF offensive on Zamzam IDP camp” between April 11 and 13.
The report also noted that over 400,000 residents of the camp were displaced during the assault.
The Zamzam camp, near El Fasher in North Darfur, was the largest refugee camp in the region at the time, housing several hundred thousand people.
The RSF launched attacks on both military and civilian targets in April 2023 after refusing to integrate into the national army. The UN described the resulting conflict as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
According to UN estimates, fighting in Sudan has displaced approximately 12 million people, with half the population facing severe food insecurity.
Despite the severity, international attention has been far less than for other global crises, such as the Gaza Strip.
The OHCHR report detailed killings, rapes, torture, abductions, and other forms of sexual violence during the three-day offensive, highlighting “a consistent pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuses of international human rights law.”
In the months preceding the attack, the RSF reportedly blocked the delivery of food, water, fuel, and other essential goods to the camp, targeting anyone attempting to bring in supplies.
Many families were forced to feed children on animal feed, including peanut shells, to survive.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued an urgent appeal, saying, “The world must not sit back and watch as such cruelty becomes entrenched as the order of the day in Sudan.”