A man who escaped the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher before a reported massacre by paramilitary troops says he has lost all hope and happiness. I have lost my colleagues, Abdu-Rabbu Ahmed, a laboratory technician at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, told the BBC. I have lost the people whose faces I used to see smiling... It feels as if you lost a big part of your body or your soul.
He was speaking to us from a displaced persons camp in Tawila some 70km (43 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, the regional hub which was taken over by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the last week of October after an 18-month siege.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, when a power struggle between their leaders erupted into a civil war.
The alleged killings of at least 460 patients and their companions at the Saudi Hospital were one of the most shocking among widespread accounts of atrocities - some of them filmed by RSF fighters and posted to social media.
In a statement of condemnation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was appalled and deeply shocked by the reported shootings, and by the abductions of six health workers, including four doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist.
The RSF has dismissed the accusations as disinformation, declaring that all of el-Fasher's hospitals had been abandoned, and undermined claims by filming a video inside the hospital grounds showing female volunteers tending to patients.
Ahmed detailed how, despite regular shelling, medical staff persevered, sharing their meager resources while working under dire conditions. Most fled when the RSF launched a final assault.
The shelling started around six in the morning, Ahmed said. All civilians and soldiers headed out towards the southern side. There was a state of terror, and as we walked, drones were bombing us. I saw many people die on the spot.
He lost much of his family during the conflict; his sister and two brothers were killed, and his parents remain unaccounted for. I worry about the people inside el-Fasher. They may be killed, or used as human shields against airstrikes.
As reports of atrocities surge, accounts collected on the ground, corroborated by satellite imagery, indicate a grim reality of civilian and hospital staff casualties, painting a harrowing picture of ongoing violence and suffering in the region.
He was speaking to us from a displaced persons camp in Tawila some 70km (43 miles) to the west of el-Fasher, the regional hub which was taken over by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the last week of October after an 18-month siege.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, when a power struggle between their leaders erupted into a civil war.
The alleged killings of at least 460 patients and their companions at the Saudi Hospital were one of the most shocking among widespread accounts of atrocities - some of them filmed by RSF fighters and posted to social media.
In a statement of condemnation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was appalled and deeply shocked by the reported shootings, and by the abductions of six health workers, including four doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist.
The RSF has dismissed the accusations as disinformation, declaring that all of el-Fasher's hospitals had been abandoned, and undermined claims by filming a video inside the hospital grounds showing female volunteers tending to patients.
Ahmed detailed how, despite regular shelling, medical staff persevered, sharing their meager resources while working under dire conditions. Most fled when the RSF launched a final assault.
The shelling started around six in the morning, Ahmed said. All civilians and soldiers headed out towards the southern side. There was a state of terror, and as we walked, drones were bombing us. I saw many people die on the spot.
He lost much of his family during the conflict; his sister and two brothers were killed, and his parents remain unaccounted for. I worry about the people inside el-Fasher. They may be killed, or used as human shields against airstrikes.
As reports of atrocities surge, accounts collected on the ground, corroborated by satellite imagery, indicate a grim reality of civilian and hospital staff casualties, painting a harrowing picture of ongoing violence and suffering in the region.
