On 26 September, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed his worries over the increased fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its supporting ethnic militias and the joint forces of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allied ex-rebel armed movements in El Fasher, North Darfur State, and alerted of a raising, dreadful toll on civilians.
“Over the past two weeks, the battle for El Fasher has escalated significantly, and we have documented increasing incidents of civilians being killed as a result of shelling and airstrikes by both the RSF and the SAF,” said Türk.
The report stated that at the height of the recent battles, on 22 September, at least 20 civilians were killed, while the actual number is expected to be much higher, and many civilian facilities were damaged. This follows a multi-pronged attack made by the RSF on 14 September, the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab reported, claiming “unprecedented large-scale combat operations.”
The UN Human Rights Office has documented cases of executions, sexual and gender-based violence, and reported kidnappings of at least five women and several young men in El Fasher. There have also been reports of large-scale arbitrary arrests in North and South Darfur by the RSF, who routinely accuse civilians of cooperating with the army.
Mass Exodus
The persistant attacks on El Fasher that continue to claim civilian lives and the deteriorated conditions in the besieged city are forcing more people to flee to the nearby Zamzam camp for the conflict displaced.
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The displaced reach the camp after harsh journeys from different towns in North Darfur; thousands of people have arrived recently since the escalation of violence in the region to Zamzam, adding more pressure on the overpopulated and poorly equipped camp.
UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs declared famine in Zamzam camp last month; moreover, the outbreak of diseases–mainly cholera–during the rainy season worsened the situation further.
Fatima Suleiman fled in April from the Masaneh neighbourhood in El Fasher to Zamzam since the entire area in Masaneh had been burnt to the ground. “We lost everything in the house since last Ramadan, so we decided to come to the Al-Zaim Al-Azhari School shelter in Zamzam camp with my children to search for safety.” But Fatima says they have only found more nearby shelling while in Zamzam. She has lost part of hearing due to the heavy gunfire, she told Ayin, and her son was injured in the leg several weeks ago, but she has not been able to find medical assistance to help remove the shrapnel.
Even when access to markets and health facilities is available, few can afford them in Zamzam. “In Al Nahda School (displacement shelter), the displaced people suffer from problems of lack of drinking water and the high price of one jerrycan, which is about four hundred pounds, and a ball of bread, which is six thousand pounds,” says Zamzam resident Rania Ahmed.
