A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) systematically destroyed healthcare infrastructure in el‑Fasher, Darfur, during a year‑long siege that began in May 2024 and culminated in the city’s takeover in October 2025.
According to the report, the RSF launched no fewer than 43 separate attacks on hospitals and medical sites between May 2024 and October 2025, with some locations hit repeatedly. The assaults included shelling, drone strikes and precision‑guided rockets, all of which are prohibited under international humanitarian law when directed at health facilities or their staff.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the findings “deeply disturbing,” noting that the attacks “may amount to war crimes.” The RSF has denied the allegations, while the group’s health minister dismissed the claims as propaganda aimed at tarnishing the RSF’s reputation.
The investigation also documents the human toll on medical workers. From April 2023 to October 2025, 120 staff were injured, 55 were killed and 10 were forcibly disappeared or abducted. Dr. Muhamed Suliman, a surgeon who worked in el‑Fasher during the siege, described the RSF’s strategy as an attempt to “evacuate the hospitals” and render the city uninhabitable.
Early in the conflict, the Teaching Hospital, one of the city’s main medical centres, was forced to relocate to the South Hospital. Even after the move, the South Hospital suffered repeated shelling, including a raid on 8 June 2024 that left staff scrambling for safety. The director general, Dr. Izzeldin Ahmed Dawaud Asow, recounted being beaten and threatened with ethnic slurs before surviving by feigning death.
International organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization, have condemned the systematic targeting of health facilities in Sudan. WHO officials highlighted the case of al‑Daein hospital in eastern Darfur, bombed by the RSF in March 2026, as another stark example of the conflict’s impact on civilian care.
UN investigators have also linked the fighting in el‑Fasher to “hallmarks of genocide,” noting that the RSF’s Arab militias have historically targeted non‑Arab groups in the city.
The BBC’s detailed chronology marks a clear pattern: as the RSF advanced, they shelled the only functioning hospitals, forced clinics to close, and even targeted relocated facilities such as the Specialised Children’s Hospital and the main dialysis centre.
With the RSF’s occupation of el‑Fasher in October 2025, Saudi Hospital remained the sole operational medical facility, a grim testament to the systematic dismantling of the city’s health system.
As the international community watches the ongoing crisis, the BBC investigation underscores the urgent need for accountability and protection of civilian infrastructure in Sudan’s civil war.
