Report: Bombardment on Abu Shouk Camp Leaves Dozens Dead and Sparks Mass Displacement

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The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab confirmed through satellite imagery collected between 11 and 18 August 2025 that bombardments struck Naivasha Market inside Abu Shouk IDP Camp in North Darfur.

According to local reports, artillery fire launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 12 August killed 9 civilians and injured 13 others in Naivasha Market and areas northwest of El-Fasher. The Sudan Doctors’ Network further reported that another RSF bombardment on 16 August claimed the lives of at least 31 people, including a volunteer with the Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room, seven children, and a pregnant woman, with 13 more wounded.

Satellite imagery revealed three impact sites consistent with munitions inside the market, while open sources – including the El-Fasher Resistance Committee – reported abductions and summary executions of civilians following RSF incursions into the camp. A widely circulated video allegedly shows an RSF soldier executing an unarmed man after questioning him about his tribal affiliation; the footage, however, has not been independently verified.

Field reports indicated that the bombardment triggered large-scale displacement, with civilians fleeing from the northern areas of the camp to the city center, or further out toward Tawilah, Jebel Marra, Kutum, and Mellit. The Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room reported that 21 people had died in the past 45 days from famine and disease.

The report concluded that the Sudan Armed Forces and Joint Forces appear either unable or unwilling to protect civilians in Abu Shouk, leaving residents increasingly vulnerable to starvation, injury, abduction, sexual violence, and death.