Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a deadly assault on the famine-ravaged Abu Shouk displacement camp near El Fasher, capital of North Darfur province, killing 40 civilians, according to local monitors.
The Emergency Response Rooms collective reported via Facebook that RSF fighters raided sections of the camp on Monday, targeting residents inside their homes and leaving at least 19 injured.
Abu Shouk shelters approximately 450,000 displaced people and has endured repeated attacks throughout Sudan’s civil war, though El Fasher itself remains under Sudanese military control despite persistent RSF offensives.
The Resistance Committees in El Fasher corroborated the attack, describing scenes that “reflected the extent of the horrific violations committed against innocent, defenseless people.” Satellite imagery from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab identified 40 vehicles in the camp’s northwest sectors during the assault.
Earlier imagery also revealed RSF blockades on escape routes from El Fasher, including key roads toward Kutum and Mellit.
Concurrent with the camp attack, heavy fighting erupted in El Fasher between the RSF and Sudanese army. Military officials claimed on social media that their forces repelled a multi-axis RSF offensive, destroying 16 combat vehicles and capturing 34 others. Conversely, the RSF asserted on Telegram that it had gained ground and seized equipment, though details remain unverified.
Darfur Governor Mini Arko Minawi declared El Fasher had “triumphed over those who betrayed their land” in an apparent reference to the RSF.
The conflict’s humanitarian toll continues to mount catastrophically. UN operations director Edem Wosornum revealed over 60 El Fasher residents, primarily women and children, succumbed to malnutrition in a single week.
Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric warned of Sudan’s “extreme dire situation,” with the war having displaced 12 million people and pushed regions like Abu Shouk into famine conditions since erupting in April 2023.
In North Kordofan province, the Sudan Doctors Network documented RSF-driven ethnic cleansing, forcing over 3,000 families from 66 villages since early August. Displaced civilians reported looting of property, livestock, and cash reserves before fleeing to Khartoum and White Nile provinces.
UN data confirms these attacks killed 18 civilians and injured dozens.
