Paramilitaries in Sudan have murdered more than 200 civilians in a wave of attacks in displacement camps and around the city of El Fasher, the last big city still in the hands of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region.
The deaths include at least 56 civilians killed by the Rapid Support Forces over two days of attacks in Um Kadadah, a town they seized on the road to El Fasher.
The violence is some of the worst in the Darfur region since the civil war between the army and the paramilitary forces began almost exactly two years ago.
The UN said killings were continuing at two large displacement camps, including of the entire medical staff of Relief International, which was operating the only remaining clinic inside Zamzam camp. RSF forces were said to be burning buildings throughout Zamzam on Sunday, claiming they were seeking Sudanese government fighters hiding in the camps.
The US has condemned both sides in the war, saying the RSF has committed genocide in Darfur and that the army has attacked civilians.
The conflict has essentially divided Sudan in two, with the army holding sway in the north and east while the RSF controls most of Darfur and parts of the south.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 12 million and created what the International Rescue Committee described as “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded”.
The deaths at the weekend put extra pressure on the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, to deliver a decisive response on the issue of civilian protection when he convenes a ministerial conference on Sudan in London on Tuesday. The conference of 20 countries and organisations will inevitably shine a spotlight on the United Arab Emirates, past backers of the RSF, to issue an unambiguous statement of condemnation.
The attacks on Um Kadadah, about 180km (112 miles) east of El Fasher, came one day after RSF fighters said they had taken the town from army forces. The victims appeared to be targeted because of their ethnicity.
Lammy tweeted: “Shocking reports are emerging from El Fasher, Darfur, where indiscriminate RSF attacks have killed civilians, including aid workers. This gives added urgency to Tuesday’s Sudan conference in London with international partners. All sides must commit to protection of civilians.”
The UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was “appalled and gravely alarmed by reports emerging from Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps as well as El Fasher town in North Darfur”. The two camps protect as many as 700,000 civilians displaced by previous violence and famine.
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab said it had observed that “arson attacks have burned multiple structures and significant areas of the Zamzam camp in the centre, south and south-east portions of the camp”.
The UN reported that the RSF had launched coordinated ground and air attacks on the camps and El Fasher from multiple directions on 11 April, triggering intense clashes and resulting in catastrophic consequences for civilians.
The UN said more than 100 people, including more than 20 children, were feared dead, including nine Relief International personnel. The Sudanese army said more than 70 people had been killed in El Fasher alone. The precise death toll was unverifiable due to deliberate internet shutdowns implemented by the RSF.
Last month the army recaptured the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, about 1,000km (600 miles) to the east.
Adam Regal, a spokesperson for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, said Zamzam and Abou Shouk remained under artillery shelling and an assault by RSF armed vehicles on Sunday.
Relief International said of the loss of its staff: “We understand this was a targeted attack on all health infrastructure in the region to prevent access to healthcare for internally displaced people. We are horrified that one of our clinics was also part of this attack – along with other health facilities in El Fasher.”
Both the Biden and Trump administrations in the US have said the RSF has committed genocide in Darfur, and that the army has attacked civilians. The Sudanese government last week took the UAE to the international court of justice, the UN’s top court, claiming the UAE was complicit in genocide.
Kate Ferguson, a co-director of Protection Approaches, said: “It appears that the RSF is attacking Zamzam, Abu Shouk and El Fasher simultaneously for the first time, including a ground assault on Zamzam. This is a significant escalation in violence against civilians in the North Darfur region and requires immediate diplomatic response.”
She said she feared such “a coordinated military effort by the RSF would represent the beginning of the assault we have all so long feared – including further acts of genocide and crimes against humanity – and should trigger all emergency diplomatic and other responses.”
She added: “In hosting the conference on Tuesday, Lammy holds the heavy responsibility of securing a collective response to the appalling atrocities committed yesterday and this weekend. It is a tough but rare opportunity to bring international commitment to protect civilians in Sudan from strong words to resolute action.
“This means sincerely confronting those backing and enabling atrocity crimes, and establishing a serious senior coalition willing to advance at pace the political and technical solutions necessary to halt genocide, crimes against humanity, war and famine.”
