December 3, Nairobi — Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam in North Darfur, is under attack with intense shelling by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This has created a “living nightmare” with casualties, panic and mass displacement, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday.
“Not only have people been starving, but they are also now being bombarded and forced to flee again,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharite, MSF’s Head of Emergency Operations.
MSF received eight injured people, including women and children as young as 4 years old. The situation is “beyond chaotic,” as patients and medical staff and leaving the camp and trying to run for their lives. MSF’s hospital in the camp is now empty.
Zamzam, which is located 15km from El Fasher, came under fire for the first time by the RSF during the conflict on Sunday. The shelling continued on Monday. The RSF are fighting to take over El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the region. Zamzam’s population has massively increased in the last few months as fighting in El Fasher intensified.
The camp is estimated to host around two million people. The senior manager at Zamzam told Darfur24 that eight people were killed and over a dozen injured.
“The situation in the overcrowded camp was already at breaking point – cut off from critical humanitarian supplies, a state of famine has been declared, and rates of severe malnutrition and disease are soaring,” said Kashif Shafique, Country Director at Relief International in Sudan. “Now, widespread panic and despair have taken hold, as innocent civilians are coming under direct fire.”