In a shocking turn of events, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have reportedly killed hundreds of patients and medical staff inside a hospital located in El Fasher. This alarming information comes from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Sudan Doctors Network, following the paramilitary group's recent claim of control over the city on Sunday. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his deep shock and dismay at the reports, stating that over 460 individuals were killed at the Saudi maternity hospital, although he refrained from assigning blame in a recent post on X.
The Sudan Doctors Network, an organization dedicated to monitoring the ongoing civil war, condemned the actions of the RSF, claiming they “killed in cold blood everyone they found inside the Saudi hospital.” This incident adds to the growing list of atrocities committed during the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which has been escalating since April 2023, triggered by a power struggle within the military regime that erupted into open conflict in the capital, Khartoum.
As of now, Sudan’s army controls the majority of the country’s north and east and successfully recaptured Khartoum in March 2025. However, the RSF has established dominance in the western and southwestern regions. With the army's recent abandonment of El Fasher, the RSF has gained control over all five regional capitals in Darfur, while clashes continue in the southern region of Kordofan.
El Fasher, a city that once boasted a population of over 1 million, has been besieged by the RSF since May 2024. By August of that year, famine was declared in the Zamzam camp for displaced individuals situated south of the city. Earlier in April, the RSF was responsible for the deaths of approximately 2,000 people when it seized control of the camp, which at the time housed around 500,000 residents.
Experts have consistently warned that an RSF takeover in El Fasher could mirror the group's violent capture of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, in 2023, where they killed around 15,000 civilians, predominantly from non-Arab communities. The RSF, which evolved from the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, gained infamy for their role in committing genocide against African ethnic groups under the orders of former president Omar al-Bashir in 2003. In January, the US government officially labeled the RSF's actions as genocide. Many Sudanese continue to refer to the RSF as the Janjaweed, reflecting the deep-seated fears associated with this group.
On Tuesday, a coalition known as the Joint Forces, which comprises various armed groups allied with Sudan’s military, reported that the RSF had executed over 2,000 unarmed civilians since taking control of El Fasher. RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, acknowledged that there had been “abuses” committed by his forces, marking his first public comments since the fall of El Fasher. He announced that an investigation had been initiated, yet details remain scarce.
The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab analyzed satellite imagery of the hospital and reported disturbing findings. On October 27 and 28, they observed three clusters of white objects and reddish discoloration near the hospital that had not been present the previous day. The lab noted that these observations were “consistent with mass killing” at an RSF detention site located at a former children’s hospital in El Fasher. They also reported ongoing “systematic killing” at the eastern walls of the city, originally constructed as a defense mechanism.
Caitlin Howarth, the director of conflict analytics at the Yale lab, indicated that assessing the total number of fatalities caused by the RSF in El Fasher remains difficult. She stated, “We’re not looking at small numbers; we’re looking at dozens and hundreds and, eventually, there will be thousands.”
Survivors escaping El Fasher have reported harrowing experiences of being stripped of their belongings and extorted for ransom by RSF fighters. Many women have also come forward with allegations of sexual assault. According to Howarth, it is likely that many individuals perished in the desert while attempting to reach displacement camps, and the true death toll may never be fully known.
Witness accounts provided to the Associated Press describe RSF fighters going door-to-door, beating and shooting civilians, including women and children. Numerous civilians succumbed to gunshot wounds in the streets, with some killed while trying to escape. “It was like a killing field. Bodies everywhere and people bleeding and no one to help them,” recounted Tajal-Rahman, a resident in his late 50s, from Tawila, a displacement camp approximately 37 miles (60 km) west of El Fasher, now sheltering over 650,000 individuals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report, underscoring the urgent need for international attention and intervention in this escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
