1,013 civilians died in Sudan camp after RSF assault, UN says
Survivors of the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur are documenting the siege and subsequent killings to preserve the memory of a community that no longer exists.
By Camila Herrera ·
The United Nations Human Rights Office has documented the deaths of at least 1,013 civilians in the Zamzam displacement camp near el-Fasher, Sudan. The report details how the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the camp in April 2025, ending years of relative stability for a community that had sheltered generations of displaced people since 2004.
Hassan Saber Jumaa, a senior administrator who once managed the camp, now sits in a small house in Omdurman. He searches his phone for images of Zamzam but finds nothing, noting that his old device was looted during the initial attack. He points to the bare walls around him and says his memories of the camp and its residents are all that remain. Zamzam had been a bustling hub with daily markets and schools, forming a large population center alongside Abu Shouk and al-Salam camps in western Sudan.
The siege of Zamzam began months before the final offensive, characterized by strict restrictions on the movement of goods. Mukhtar Musa, a survivor, stated that these limits exhausted food supplies, forcing some residents to consume animal feed and peanut shells. Umm Kulthum Ali Saleh described the blockade as a deliberate tactic to weaken the population. She recalled seeing women cook grass and mix mud with flour to create bread during the final months before the attack.
On April 11, the RSF launched a three-day assault using cars, camels, and horses. Fighters burned straw homes and health facilities. The UN report states that 319 of the 1,013 killed civilians were summarily executed in homes, markets, schools, clinics, and mosques. The documentation also records widespread sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery, with the Zaghawa community specifically targeted.
Musa witnessed mass killings where RSF fighters chanted religious slogans while killing civilians. He described finding bodies scattered near the main market and along roads leading out of the camp. Saleh noted that only chickens, donkeys, and sheep wandered among the abandoned buildings after the fighting subsided. The violence drove tens of thousands of residents from Zamzam, with many staying in the el-Fasher area or fleeing south to Tawila and Dar al-Salam.
The conflict expanded beyond Zamzam in the following months. In August 2025, the RSF attacked el-Fasher and captured Abu Shouk camp. The UN Human Rights Office reported at least 40 displaced people killed inside Abu Shouk and 19 injured, while the International Organization for Migration said at least 500 residents fled that day. The RSF ultimately captured el-Fasher on October 26, 2025.
More than 6,000 people are believed to have been killed in the attack on el-Fasher and its escape routes. The UN determined that RSF fighters targeted civilians, including non-Arab communities, and committed acts amounting to war crimes. The RSF has denied targeting civilians in Zamzam and el-Fasher but has acknowledged that some fighters committed abuses.
Survivors from Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and el-Fasher are focusing on bearing witness to these events. Jumaa said the destruction of Zamzam marked the start of another wave of displacement rather than the end of violence. Musa emphasized the duty of those who lived through the siege to recount what they saw.
"Whoever survives must tell the story of what happened," Musa said.
