BBC Investigation Details Systematic Attacks on Healthcare Facilities in el-Fasher, Sudan

A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence indicating that Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary fighters systematically targeted and destroyed the healthcare system in el-Fasher, Sudan, during their siege and subsequent capture of the Darfur city. The report documented at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and medical sites between May 2024 and October 2025, with several facilities targeted repeatedly. Data gathered between April 2023 and October 2025 further shows that 55 medical workers were killed, 120 were injured, and 10 were forcibly disappeared or abducted in the city.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described the findings as deeply disturbing, emphasizing that intentional strikes on civilian infrastructure and medical facilities violate international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes. Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the situation in el-Fasher represents one of the most severe examples of the conflict's devastating impact on Sudanese healthcare. UN investigators additionally noted that the violence in the region bore characteristics of genocide, with Arab militias associated with the RSF targeting non-Arab populations.

Escalation of Attacks on Medical Sites

Following the onset of Sudan's civil war in April 2023, initial medical operations were shifted from el-Fasher's Teaching Hospital to the South Hospital. However, conditions worsened dramatically when the RSF besieged the city a year later. In late May and early June 2024, the South Hospital suffered repeated shelling before RSF fighters raided the facility on June 8. Medical personnel reported fleeing over walls, while the hospital's director general, Dr. Izzeldin Ahmed Dawaud Asow, stated he was subjected to ethnic slurs, beaten unconscious, and survived by feigning death. Surgical equipment was destroyed, patient casualties occurred, and the facility was ultimately forced to close.

Remaining medical staff and equipment were subsequently relocated to the Saudi Maternity Hospital in western el-Fasher, where attacks quickly intensified. Medical professionals on the ground characterized the assault on healthcare as a deliberate strategy to render the city uninhabitable by dismantling its essential infrastructure.

RSF Rejects Allegations

The RSF has denied the investigation's findings. Dr. Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister for the civilian-affiliated government linked to the RSF, dismissed the report as propaganda aimed at damaging the group's reputation. Dr. Nugud claimed that South Hospital was used as a military installation housing missile launchers and alleged that landmines were planted around the Teaching Hospital. Under international humanitarian law, medical facilities can forfeit protected status if utilized for military purposes. However, regional authorities in Darfur strongly denied the claims, and no independent evidence was found to verify the RSF's assertions.

Violations against healthcare facilities have been reported on both sides of the civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese military. In March 2026, the WHO condemned drone strikes on the al-Daein hospital in RSF-controlled eastern Darfur, which resulted in dozens of deaths and forced the facility's closure. That attack was attributed to the Sudanese armed forces, which denied involvement.