Survivors of a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attack on a displacement camp in North Darfur recounted executions, bodies left behind, looting, and the destruction of homes under heavy shelling and drone flights overhead.
Najla Ahmed, who lost most of her family while fleeing the camp, said her parents, siblings, and grandfather have not returned, while she managed to get her children to safety in the town of Tawila, about 60 kilometers from Zamzam and under the control of a neutral group.
Najla — one of six survivors who told Reuters about arson and executions during the attack — said this was the third time in recent months she had to flee from the militia.
She added that during her most recent escape, she saw seven people die of hunger and thirst, and others succumb to their injuries.
The militia had taken control of the large camp in North Darfur a week earlier in an attack that the United Nations says killed at least 300 people and displaced 400,000.
Humanitarian organizations condemned the events, describing them as an assault on civilians already facing famine. The RSF denied the allegations of violations, claiming the camp was used as a base by army-aligned forces.
According to the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees Camps, more than 280,000 people have taken refuge in Tawila, along with half a million who have arrived since the outbreak of war in April 2023.
In another testimony, a man from the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur located 15 kilometers north of Zamzam — a city the RSF is attempting to seize from the army — said he found the bodies of 24 people killed in an attack on a religious school, some of them arranged in rows.
He said:
“They started by storming homes and looting them. They killed some people… then others fled in all directions. Fires broke out. Soldiers were with them, setting buildings ablaze to spread more terror.”
Another elderly man in the camp said the militia killed 14 people at close range inside a mosque near his home.
“Fearful people always go to the mosque for shelter, but they went to every mosque and shot at them,” he said.
Reuters reported verifying video footage showing RSF members shooting an unarmed man while others lay on the ground. One video showed armed men celebrating while standing over a group of corpses.
