Key facts
- RSF fighters systematically targeted healthcare in el-Fasher, according to a BBC investigation.
- At least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites were recorded from May 2024 to October 2025.
- 120 medical workers were injured, 55 killed, and 10 abducted between April 2023 and October 2025.
- The RSF health minister rejected the BBC's findings, calling them propaganda.
- UN human rights chief described attacks as serious violations of international humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes.
A BBC investigation has found evidence that Sudanese paramilitary fighters systematically destroyed el-Fasher's healthcare system during their siege and takeover of the city in Darfur a year ago. Multiple attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, were described as serious violations of international humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes by UN human rights chief Volker Türk. The RSF has rejected the findings, calling them propaganda.
The investigation details at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites in el-Fasher between May 2024 and October 2025. During the period from April 2023 to October 2025, 120 medical workers were injured, 55 killed, and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted.
Surgeons described how the RSF deliberately targeted hospitals to force citizens to leave the city. The attacks culminated in the RSF's takeover of el-Fasher in October 2025, by which time the Saudi Hospital was the only functioning health facility left. The RSF-backed health minister claimed the South Hospital was used as a military base, a claim rejected by the Darfur region government.