In brief
A BBC probe reveals that paramilitary RSF fighters deliberately struck hospitals in el‑Fasher from May 2024 to October 2025, resulting in 43 attacks, dozens of injuries and deaths of medical staff. UN officials decry the raids as violations of international law. RSF and the RSF‑backed health minister deny the attacks, claiming hospitals were used for military purposes. Doctors chart a pattern of shelling, drone strikes and forced displacement of patients as the conflict escalated, leaving only one functional facility by October 2025. The investigation highlights the severe erosion of healthcare in one of Sudan’s most contested cities and the broader humanitarian crisis.
A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a deliberate campaign of attacks against medical facilities in the city of el‑Fasher, Darfur. From May 2024 to October 2025 the RSF struck at least 43 hospitals, clinics and mobile care sites, including shellings and precision drone strikes that destroyed or crippled essential health services.
The assault left 120 medics injured, 55 killed and 10 forcibly disappeared, according to BBC data compiled from eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery and on‑ground reporting. Doctors who remained on‑site described systematic targeting, noting that the RSF treated medical staff as enemy combatants even when they were caring for civilian casualties.
UN human‑rights chief Volker Türk called the findings “deeply disturbing” and warned that repeated attacks on healthcare infrastructure could amount to war crimes. The RSF and its RSF‑backed minister of health denied the allegations, arguing that hospitals were being used by allied forces for military purposes.
The investigation details the progression of the siege: after initial attacks on the main Teaching Hospital and its temporary relocation sites, the RSF launched a major raid on 8 June that forced a sudden evacuation and resulted in the loss of key surgical equipment and infrastructure. Subsequent shelling of the Saudi Maternity Hospital and repeated strikes on makeshift wards forced medical teams to construct underground bunkers and relocate patients amid continuous threats.
The most recent assault, on 25 October 2025, culminated in a reported massacre of over 460 patients and witnesses at the Saudi Hospital, a claim denied by RSF forces but corroborated by satellite images and reports from independent health organisations.
Despite the RSF’s claims of re‑establishing healthcare services, patients and doctors continue to face existential threats. The BBC continues to monitor the situation and call for accountability, while the UN and global health community urge an end to attacks on hospitals to safeguard civilians in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
