Sudan Clinic workers killed at Zamzam camp

Sudanese paramilitaries killed all staff at the last clinic in a starving camp in western Darfur, Sudan, as part of a wider attack that killed at least 100 people, aid groups and the United Nations said on Saturday.

The attack on the Zamzam camp, which houses half a million people in the besieged city of El Fasher, was even prominent by the standard of civil war, which saw countless atrocities and accusations of genocide.

The Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary organization broke through the camp boundaries Friday evening after several hours of artillery fire. They then destroyed hundreds of homes and major markets of camp, and then destroyed the main markets of camp, followed by the main markets of camp, according to Relief International, an aid group that operates the facility.

The aid group said in a statement on Saturday that nine hospital employees, including the head doctor, were killed. “I learned something I couldn't think of,” the statement said. “This is a profound tragedy for our organization.”

Kashif Shafique, the group's Sudan director, said in a telephone interview that aid workers (five Medics and four drivers) had all the clinic staff shot and killed.

Shafik said the paramilitary had warned doctors to leave the day before the attack. However, they had to treat civilians injured by artillery fire, and in any case, the main routes from the camp were closed.

“There was no way out,” he said.

Since April 2023, RSF has fought the Sudanese army in a vast conflict that has caused the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. US estimates show that as many as 150,000 Sudanese people have been killed and 13 million people have been forced from their homes.

Sudan's UN head Clementine Nukuweta Salami said she had done “apparently serious” to Elle Fascher's violence that continued into Saturday. At least 20 children are among the 100 people who have been killed, she said.

Satellite images posted Friday by Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Laboratory showed military vehicles near the camp, showing fires burning inside. The group called it “the most important ground-based attack” at Zamzam Camp in a year.

The escalating violence comes days before a massive international conference on Sudan, scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the war. The purpose of the conference is to attract funding for Sudan's severe humanitarian crisis. So far, donors have worked on just 10% of the UN's $4.2 billion appeals and just 10%.

The meeting attracted criticism from some Sudan as it was attended by representatives from the United Arab Emirates, accused of providing military and financial support to the RSF.

Human Rights Watch urged the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on RSF commanders responsible for abuse and criticize “countries that provide support to parties violating the ongoing UN arms embargo.”

“Global leaders need to act,” the organization said in a statement.

Both sides of the Sudan war are accused of genocide, but only the RSF has been accused of war crimes by the right group, the United Nations and the United States. Sudanese troops are regularly accused of indiscriminately bombing crowded markets in the Darfur region in multiple incidents that often killed more than 100 people.

Earlier this month, UN human rights official Volker Türk said he was “completely allaround” by reporting an extensive summary execution of the capital Khartoum, following the city's recapture by the Sudanese army.

On March 24, the military killed at least 54 people in an attack on a busy market in Tora, a small town in North Darfur.

However, the majority of Darfur is held by the RSF. The RSF has been siege to El Fasher, the last major city in the region that is uncontrolled, for over a year. The attacks were expected to be stepped up in recent weeks as RSF forces were expelled from Khartoum by the army in late March.

Before Friday's violence there were indications that a major attack was imminent.

Video of RSF assistant leader Abdul Rahim Dhagaro mobilizing troops in areas circulating on social media. On Thursday, the RSF began shelling Abu Shok, another camp north of the city, according to local rescue workers.

Fighters also began attacking Zamzam camps with artillery, gunfights and drones, according to aid groups and local activists. Hunger was officially declared at the camp last August.

Fikra for Studies and Development, a research group in Sudan, urged the United Nations to begin air intakes of food to Zamzam.

American officials have repeatedly warned about the possibility of a genocide if the RSF dismisses Elfasher. Similar violence against the Masalit ethnic group in late 2023 was central to the US decision in January to condemn the RSF of genocide, resulting in the deaths of thousands.

Abdalrahman Altayeb contributed to the report from Port Sudan, Sudan.