Humanitarian conditions for those stranded in Zamzam camp deteriorate.

Eyewitnesses and local sources in El-Fashir confirmed the deterioration of the humanitarian conditions of hundreds of families stranded in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), southwest of the city, after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of it last week.

Adam Rijal, the official spokesperson for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur, told Darfur 24 that communications had been cut off with a number of displaced families stranded inside the camp, with no further information available about their conditions.

Rijal indicated that approximately 500,000 families have fled to the neighboring town of Tawila over the past two weeks, escaping the violent fighting that erupted in the camp.

In another statement, Bahar al-Din Abdullah Yahya, a camp resident, said he arrived in Tawila last Saturday after an arduous displacement journey. He affirmed that hundreds of families remain inside the camp, lacking water and halting medical services after the theft of solar panels that power some of the camp’s water stations. Yahya added that the majority of those trapped are women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as well as some families who were unable to leave the camp.

The camp is suffering from a severe food shortage after the camp market shut down and burned down during the first day of the clashes. Another eyewitness told Darfur 24 that he returned from the camp to El-Fashir after a search for family members. He said that bodies were still scattered in some parts of the camp.