UN report details killing of 1,013 civilians in Sudan's Zamzam camp
Survivors of the April 2025 assault describe a siege that depleted food supplies before the Rapid Support Forces captured the settlement.
By Carlos Rousseau ·
The United Nations Human Rights Office confirmed that at least 1,013 civilians died during the Rapid Support Forces capture of the Zamzam displacement camp in April 2025. The report states that 319 of those victims were executed on the spot in locations including homes, markets, schools, clinics, and mosques. The camp, located near el-Fasher in North Darfur, had served as a refuge for people displaced by the Darfur conflict since 2004.
Hassan Saber Jumaa, a senior administrator who previously worked at the camp, said his connection to the site now exists only in his memory. He lost his mobile phone, which contained photographs of the settlement, during the 2025 attack. He noted that the camp functioned as a community with daily markets and schools until the current Sudanese war began in 2023.
Mukhtar Musa, a survivor of the assault, described the months leading up to the final offensive as a period of strict movement restrictions. These limitations depleted food supplies to the point where some residents ate animal feed and peanut shells. Famine conditions had been confirmed within the camp by August 2024. Umm Kulthum Ali Saleh said the siege prevented essential supplies from entering, forcing her to search for food every morning.
Saleh recalled seeing other women boil grass and mix mud with flour to make bread. She believes the blockade was a strategic move intended to weaken the population before the military push. The Rapid Support Forces initiated a three-day assault on April 11, 2025, using vehicles, camels, and horses. During the attack, straw homes and health facilities were burned.
The UN report also documented instances of sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery, which disproportionately targeted the Zaghawa community. Musa witnessed several mass killings and reported seeing fighters kill civilians while chanting religious slogans. He described bodies scattered near the main market and schools, with fighters pursuing civilians along roads leading out of the camp.
Saleh remembered the aftermath, noting that roads were littered with bodies while only livestock wandered through the abandoned structures. Chickens, donkeys, and sheep moved through the ruins after the violence subsided. The assault displaced tens of thousands of people from Zamzam. Many remained in the el-Fasher area, while others fled south to Tawila and Dar al-Salam.
The conflict intensified in the months following the Zamzam attack. The Rapid Support Forces launched an attack on el-Fasher in August 2025 and captured the Abu Shouk camp. The UN Human Rights Office stated that at least 40 displaced people were killed and 19 injured inside Abu Shouk. The International Organization for Migration reported that at least 500 residents fled that day.
El-Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces on October 26, 2025. More than 6,000 people are believed to have been killed in the city and on escape routes. The UN found that fighters targeted civilians, including members of non-Arab communities, in acts constituting war crimes. The Rapid Support Forces previously denied targeting civilians in Zamzam and el-Fasher but acknowledged that some abuses occurred. Musa stated that whoever survives must tell the story of what happened.
