A new report by Amnesty International reveals that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a brutal and deliberate assault on Zamzam—North Darfur’s largest camp for internally displaced persons—in April 2025, committing acts that must be investigated as war crimes under international law. The report, titled “A refuge destroyed: RSF violations in Darfur’s Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons,” documents how RSF fighters killed civilians, seized hostages, and burned essential infrastructure, including homes, mosques, schools, and healthcare facilities.
Between 11 and 13 April 2025, the RSF launched a large-scale offensive on the camp, indiscriminately shelling densely populated areas and firing live ammunition throughout residential zones. The assault triggered mass panic, forcing nearly 400,000 people to flee between 13 and 14 April alone, marking one of the largest displacements in Darfur in recent years. The attack formed part of the RSF campaign to seize El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which they captured on 26 October 2025, reportedly executing dozens of unarmed men and raping women and girls.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, condemned the atrocities as yet another example of the RSF’s disregard for human life, saying civilians were “ruthlessly attacked, killed, robbed of items critical for survival and left without justice.” She emphasized that some international actors, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), fuelled the conflict by supplying weapons to the RSF.
Callamard called for an urgent expansion of the existing arms embargo, currently applicable only to Darfur, to all of Sudan. She urged the African Union, European Union, IGAD, the UK, US, Russia, and China to pressure all nations—particularly the UAE—to immediately halt arms transfers to the RSF, SAF, and other armed groups. Given the high risk of diversion of weapons, she further demanded that countries immediately suspend all arms shipments to the UAE.
The report draws on extensive research conducted between June and August 2025, including interviews with 29 survivors, relatives of victims, medical workers, journalists, and analysts, as well as analysis of satellite images, photos, and videos. The RSF did not respond to Amnesty’s request for comment.
Survivors shared harrowing accounts of chaos and terror. Shells struck homes, streets, and even a mosque during a wedding ceremony, killing people on the spot and igniting buildings. Satellite images from 16 April confirmed fresh craters consistent with heavy explosive weapon use in civilian areas. Witnesses described RSF fighters firing randomly into crowds and neighborhoods. One volunteer medic, Younis*, said, “It was everywhere, in every place. You could not identify where the shelling was coming from.”
Another eyewitness, Mamoun*, recalled seeing fighters “shouting and shooting anywhere,” while Sadya* described fighters standing through truck roofs firing into the streets. Amnesty documented at least 47 civilians deliberately shot and killed while hiding, fleeing, or sheltering in a clinic or mosque—acts amounting to the war crime of murder.
Eyewitness accounts and video evidence indicate civilians were targeted based on perceived affiliation with the Joint Forces, aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). RSF fighters also looted homes and businesses and burned key market and community spaces, including the Sheikh Farah school and mosque. Such religious, medical, and educational facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.
Those who escaped faced days without food, clean water, or medical care. Several survivors recounted acts that may constitute war crimes, including rape and pillage. Many feel abandoned by the international community and are demanding urgent humanitarian assistance, civilian protection, criminal accountability, and compensation.
Elnor*, who watched armed men kill his elderly brother and young nephew, expressed despair: “No-one is concerned with our situation.”
* Names have been changed to protect identities of interviewees for security and confidentiality reasons.
