Rapid Support Forces Attacks Leave More Than 40 Dead and Dozens Injured in North Darfur
August 12, 2025, Sudan
On the morning of Monday, August 11, 2025, at approximately 8:00 AM, Rapid Support Forces launched a large-scale attack on the city of El Fasher from three axes: north, east, and south. The operation included a direct incursion into the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), located north of the city.
According to a Sudan Rights Watch Network field source in North Darfur, as well as eyewitness accounts and field reports from the Abu Shouk camp emergency room, the forces entered the camp and carried out direct killings (“liquidations”) of civilians. Others were killed as a result of indiscriminate gunfire and artillery shelling. The attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people and the injury of dozens more, in addition to the destruction of homes inside the camp and the looting of IDPs’ property. These attacks resulted in grave humanitarian consequences, most notably: the destruction of homes and tents inside the camp, secondary displacement and mass fear among residents, the loss of food and essential property due to looting, and restrictions on freedom of movement after some exit routes from the camp were blocked.
According to SRWN’s field monitoring, these attacks come within the context of escalating violence in North Darfur and the siege imposed by the Rapid Support Forces on the state and its capital, El Fasher, since April 2024. This siege has recently witnessed repeated attacks on IDP camps and grave violations against civilians.
Targeting civilians in places of displacement is prohibited under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and is considered a grave violation that may amount to a war crime or a crime against humanity under international humanitarian law. Furthermore, the deliberate killing of civilians, directing attacks against IDP camps, and systematic looting can constitute crimes against humanity if they are part of a widespread or systematic attack. In addition, Sudan is obligated under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to protect civilians and ensure they are not subjected to violence or forced displacement.
In this regard, Sudan Rights Watch Network recommends and calls for the following:
- Immediately cease all targeting of displacement camps and civilian facilities, and fully comply with international humanitarian law, particularly Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
- Strengthen the protection of civilians in conflict areas by deploying neutral monitors and ensuring unhindered humanitarian access to IDP camps in North Darfur.
- Establish safe and sustainable humanitarian corridors to enable IDPs to move freely and access food, medicine, and water, ensuring they are not besieged.
- Implement Sudan’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights through practical measures to protect civilians, prevent forced displacement, and engage local communities in protection mechanisms.
- Call for an immediate and independent international investigation to document the violations committed in Abu Shouk camp in El Fasher, identify those responsible, and hold them accountable under international criminal justice mechanisms.
- Rehabilitate destroyed housing and infrastructure in Abu Shouk camp and compensate affected families for the loss of their basic property due to looting or destruction.
Sudan Rights Watch Network
August 12, 2025