DUBLIN,Ireland Aug 13-At least 40 people have been killed in an attack on a camp for displaced people in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, an aid group operating in the area said on Monday.
The Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying out the assault on Abu Shouk camp, home to more than 200,000 people. A local resistance committee in nearby El-Fasher, made up of residents and activists, also blamed the RSF.
El-Fasher, the last major army stronghold in Darfur, came under heavy fire the same day as part of the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The fighting has triggered a deepening humanitarian crisis, with the UN warning that civilians trapped in the besieged city are facing starvation.
Sudanese media reported that the camp was caught in crossfire during the clashes in El-Fasher. But aid workers inside Abu Shouk said some victims were shot inside their homes, while others were killed in public.
The US-based Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which analyses satellite imagery, reported spotting around 40 light vehicles positioned in the north-west of the camp, supporting claims that the assault came from that direction. The organisation said it was also examining images and videos “allegedly showing RSF shooting at people crawling away and using ethnic slurs”.
Abu Shouk camp was established more than two decades ago to shelter members of non-Arab communities, including the Fur and Zaghawa, fleeing attacks by the Janjaweed militia. The RSF traces its origins to that militia, which was accused of genocide during the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s.
The RSF has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the current war, insisting it is not involved in tribal conflicts. However, the United States has sanctioned the group over what it describes as acts of genocide in Darfur.
