ع
The Rapid Support Forces systematically targeted healthcare facilities in el-Fasher as they besieged and then captured the North Darfur capital, according to a BBC investigation that drew on accounts from medical staff on the ground. The probe documented at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals, clinics and makeshift treatment sites between May 2024 and October 2025, some of them struck repeatedly with shells and precision-guided drones. A monitoring group called Insecurity Insight recorded more than 130 attacks on healthcare across North Darfur since the war erupted in April 2023, with data placing RSF responsibility at 71 percent of the incidents.[[1]](https://www.reuters.com/world/sudan-hospital-massacre-is-latest-example-an-increasingly-brutal-war-strategy-2025-11-28/)
Saudi Hospital, the last major functioning facility in the city, came under repeated assault before RSF fighters overran it in late October 2025 and killed more than 460 patients, companions and staff, the World Health Organization reported. Satellite imagery examined by researchers at Yale University showed clusters of bodies and signs of burning on the hospital grounds in the days after the takeover. Medical personnel described how strikes followed wounded civilians to temporary surgical sites, forcing repeated relocations that ultimately collapsed the local health system.[[2]](https://apnews.com/article/sudan-hospital-rsf-darfur-fasher-who-3ac305299da5ee388429f3352ca5c6fa)
Six doctors who worked in el-Fasher during the siege told the BBC of a clear pattern in which RSF forces appeared intent on driving every medical facility out of operation. Surgeon Muhamed Suliman said the paramilitaries sought to dismantle the healthcare infrastructure to weaken civilian resistance and control the population. One temporary ward was hit five times in 2025 alone, while drone strikes targeted ambulances carrying the injured, according to physician accounts compiled in the investigation.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk described the BBC findings as deeply disturbing and said his office’s own monitoring confirmed repeated RSF strikes on el-Fasher’s main hospitals and makeshift health facilities. Türk stated that such attacks on civilian infrastructure, including health sites, constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. The World Health Organization separately noted that attacks on healthcare in Sudan have killed more than 2,000 people since the conflict began, with 2025 seeing a sharp rise in fatalities.[[3]](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c54g1kxw4nvvo)
The RSF rejected the allegations, with its health minister calling them propaganda designed by the Sudanese army and its allies to damage the paramilitary group’s reputation. The group has denied carrying out deliberate attacks on civilian sites and said it investigates any misconduct by its forces. Despite the denials, witness testimony and satellite evidence gathered by multiple outlets continued to link RSF units to the hospital assaults.[[4]](https://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/bbc-investigation-claims-systematic-rsf-attacks-on-el-fashers-hospitals-3007840)
Sudan’s conflict between the army and the RSF has displaced more than 12 million people and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with nearly half the population facing acute food insecurity, according to UN assessments. In el-Fasher and surrounding camps, the destruction of medical infrastructure left thousands without access to emergency care, exacerbating deaths from treatable conditions and malnutrition. Health workers have also been direct targets, with the BBC data showing 55 killed, 120 injured and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted between April 2023 and October 2025.
