Amnesty Alleges War Crimes by RSF in Devastating April Attack on Zamzam Displacement Camp

An international rights organization has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s army, of committing war crimes during a multi-day assault on the Zamzam displacement camp in Darfur in April.

Amnesty International’s report says RSF fighters rampaged through Zamzam as part of the siege of el-Fasher, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The assault — which involved killings, hostage-taking and the deliberate destruction of mosques, schools and health clinics — left the two-decade-old camp nearly empty. At its peak, Zamzam sheltered roughly 500,000 people; the April 11 attack forced tens of thousands to flee or be displaced again.

“The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.

Amnesty documents survivor and aid-worker accounts describing fighters shooting civilians in the streets, beating and torturing others, raping and sexually assaulting women and girls, and burning large sections of houses, markets and other buildings. The report says 47 people were killed while hiding in homes, fleeing, at a clinic or seeking sanctuary in a mosque. It also cites numerous deaths from shelling across densely populated areas between April 11–12, including a shell that struck near a mosque during a wedding.

Eyewitnesses described extreme brutality: one survivor reported that fighters stormed a compound and executed his 80-year-old brother and 30-year-old nephew; another volunteer said gunmen fired indiscriminately near the camp’s main market, sometimes shooting through roof hatches at people in the street.

Amnesty warns that the Zamzam assault was not an isolated incident but part of a broader campaign against villages and displacement camps in Darfur. International organizations have repeatedly accused RSF forces of mass killings and sexual violence during the 30-month conflict; the Sudanese military has also faced allegations of atrocities.

The war erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between the army and the RSF. Estimates of the toll vary; roughly 40,000 deaths have been reported, and the United Nations describes the situation as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced and famine reported in several locations, including parts of Zamzam.

Amnesty also criticized the United Arab Emirates over alleged support for the RSF and called for suspension of arms transfers to the UAE, citing a high risk of diversion to the paramilitary. The UAE denies supplying arms to the RSF. The RSF has said the camp was used by the military and allied militias and denied deliberately targeting civilians; Amnesty reported it received no response to its request for comment from the RSF.

Tracing its roots to the Janjaweed militias, the RSF is linked to earlier campaigns in Darfur that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. The International Criminal Court has investigated alleged war crimes in Darfur, and international bodies, including the U.N., have urged accountability for atrocities committed across the conflict.

What happens next: Amnesty is calling for independent investigations into the Zamzam assault and for those responsible to be held to account under international law. The report underscores the urgent need for protection for civilians and sustained humanitarian access to displaced communities.