Members from the pro-government Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on board five pick-up trucks and armed with machine guns on Monday attacked a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Zalingei, the capital of the state of Central Darfur, the rights group said.
“A 22-year-old woman was shot in the head and later died in hospital,” Amnesty said in a statement.
“Ten others, including children, sustained serious head, neck, arm, and leg injuries,” it said, adding that the reason for the shootings remained unclear.
The authorities in Central Darfur said the incident was the result of a “mistake”.
“Six vehicles of RSF were travelling from South Darfur to Geneina in West Darfur when they mistakenly went inside an IDP camp on their way,” a statement from the Central Darfur government said.
“The IDPs clashed with RSF after which the RSF troops fired in the air, and as a result of which one woman was critically injured.”
Camp residents later demonstrated in front of the government building and clashed with security forces, the authorities said.
“Five soldiers and nine civilians were injured in these clashes,” it said.
Amnesty International confirmed the demonstration and said seven people were arrested by security forces, including a student activist.
Amnesty urged the authorities to launch an impartial investigation into Monday’s incident.
“The victims of this appalling attack were forced to flee from their homes by the violence that has plagued Darfur for years, and this camp was supposed to be a place of safety,” it said.
The United Nations says that more than 2.5 million have been displaced since a deadly conflict erupted in Sudan’s western region of Darfur in 2003. The conflict has killed about 300,000 people, the UN says.
An insurgency began in Darfur as rebels rose up against Sudan’s government, accusing it of marginalisation.
Khartoum cracked down on rebels and insurgent groups have since fragmented, with fighting punctuated by periods of relative calm.
The overall level of violence has dropped across Darfur, with Khartoum insisting since last year that the conflict has ended.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has even called for shutting Darfur camps and for displaced people to return to their villages.
A joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur has also downsized its troops, citing the decrease of violence.
But Amnesty said it has evidence of continuing violence in Darfur, a region the size of France.
“Between August 2017 and April 2018, incidents of unlawful killings, rape, abduction, looting of villages and livestock, and torching of homes and arbitrary detention continued in Darfur,” the rights group said, adding that it had recorded 244 such incidents during the period.
Khartoum restricts international media access to Darfur.