Series of attacks on famine camps in Sudan, hundreds killed

Series of attacks on famine camps in Sudan, hundreds killed

Although the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ( ) has been blamed for the attack, the armed group says the killings were staged to smear its forces.

Series of attacks on famine camps in Sudan, hundreds killed

Soldiers walk past a damaged vehicle on Tuti Island after the Sudanese army launched a major offensive to take control of the capital, Khartoum. Photo: Reuters

The United Nations has said that more than 100 civilians, including 20 children and a team of doctors, have been killed in a series of attacks on multiple refugee camps in the war-torn western Darfur region of Sudan over several days.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ( ) are being blamed for the attacks on the town of Al-Fasher and two nearby camps, the BBC reported.

However, the group fighting the Sudanese army has said that all allegations of atrocities against them are fabricated.

The attacks on Zamzam and Abu Shuk camps, where more than 700,000 people are temporarily sheltering, most of them facing severe famine, came just before the second anniversary of the ongoing civil war between the and the army.

Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said she was "horrified and deeply concerned" by reports of attacks on the camps.

"The escalation of deadly and brutal attacks on displaced people and aid workers is representative of this," he said in the statement.

The donor agency Relief International said nine of its staff, including a doctor, a referral driver and a team leader, were brutally killed in the Zamzam attack.

Blaming RSF for the attack, they said, "We believe that all health infrastructure in the area was targeted with the aim of cutting off healthcare for internally displaced people. We are horrified to learn that our clinic was one of the targets of the attack, along with other health centers in the city of Al-Fasher," they said.

However, in a statement issued on Saturday, RSF said it was not responsible for the attacks on civilians and that the Zamzam massacre was staged to smear its forces.

A resident of Zamzam who works in the community kitchen at the refugee camp described the situation as "extremely dangerous."

"We have lost many young people who worked in community kitchens, we have also lost some of the doctors who took the initiative to reopen," Mustafa, 34, said in an audio message sent on WhatsApp on Sunday morning.

The young man, who lost two of his relatives in the attack, said, "Many are injured, but there are no hospitals or medicine for them. They are dying of blood loss. The shelling is still going on, we fear more attacks in the morning."

All exits from Zamzam have been blocked, all four routes have been cordoned off, he said.

Another resident of the camp, named Wasir, also commented that the situation was "very dire."

"There is nothing left of Zamzam. Most of the civilians have fled, we are also trying, but we have not been successful yet because all the roads are blocked, we also have children with us."

"There is death everywhere; the shelling is still going on as I speak from the trenches," he said.

The BBC writes that the war in Sudan, which began as a power struggle between the army and the (. ) has created the largest humanitarian disaster in the world. The conflict has already forced more than 12 million people to flee their homes, pushing people in numerous areas to the brink of famine

The civil war began on A, due to disagreements between the military and leaders over the political future of Sudan.

Al-Fasher is the last major city in Darfur under military control, and has been surrounded by for almost a year.