JOHANNESBURG—A brutal attack by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a refugee camp in the country's western Darfur region has left more than 40 civilians dead and at least 19 injured, according to local activist groups.

The assault, which took place on August 11, targeted a residential area within the Abu Shouk camp, located on the outskirts of Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state. The attack was confirmed by the local activist groups Resistance Committee and Emergency Room, which condemned it as a "horrible human rights violation" committed against "innocent and unarmed civilians."

The Abu Shouk camp is home to an estimated 450,000 internally displaced people who have fled violence and the ongoing civil war across Sudan. The latest attack is part of a broader, intensified offensive by the RSF to seize Al Fashir, which remains the last major city in the vast Darfur region under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The RSF’s renewed focus on the west comes after it was pushed out of the capital, Khartoum, by government forces in March.

The conflict between the SAF and the RSF has been raging for nearly 28 months, plunging Sudan into a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The UN estimates that more than 20,000 people have been killed and over 12 million displaced since the fighting began. Of those displaced, approximately 4 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries, including Chad and Egypt.

The war has effectively partitioned the country, with the RSF controlling most of the Darfur region and parts of the south, while the SAF holds sway over the eastern, northern, and central territories. The battle for Al Fashir has become a critical front, as control of the city would give the RSF a strategic stronghold and further choke off humanitarian supply routes to a region already devastated by a long history of conflict. International humanitarian organizations have raised alarms that an all-out assault on Al Fashir could lead to an unprecedented slaughter of civilians.