BBC Investigation Says Sudan’s RSF Systematically Attacked el‑Fasher Hospitals During Siege
A BBC investigation says Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces carried out at least 43 attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites during their siege and takeover of el‑Fasher, detaining 120 medical workers and dismantling the city’s healthcare system.
Sudan’s war has taken a particularly brutal turn in the Darfur city of el‑Fasher, where a BBC investigation says the Rapid Support Forces systematically targeted the healthcare system during their siege and takeover. The report documents at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and other medical sites between May 2024 and October 2025, pointing to a sustained effort to disable the city’s ability to treat the wounded and the sick.
According to the investigation, RSF units attacked hospitals, clinics, and related infrastructure over a 17‑month period, leaving organized healthcare in el‑Fasher largely destroyed. The BBC says it has evidence that 120 medical workers were detained by the RSF during this period, though it does not provide a full account of their current status. The RSF has not publicly responded to these specific allegations.
For residents of el‑Fasher, the findings describe a city where seeking treatment became dangerous or impossible. As hospitals were shelled, overrun, or stripped of supplies, civilians with gunshot wounds, childbirth complications, or chronic illnesses lost access to care. Patients who might have survived with basic surgery or medicines were left in districts with no working ambulance system and few remaining doctors.
The reported detention of 120 medical workers deepens the damage. When doctors, nurses, and support staff are arrested or disappear, communities lose both immediate care and the skills needed to restart services once front lines move. Families of those detained face uncertainty over whether their relatives are alive and where they might be held.
On the battlefield, attacks on healthcare tilt conditions toward armed groups willing to ignore humanitarian rules. If one side degrades hospitals and intimidates staff, the opposing force’s casualties are less likely to receive treatment, and civilians caught between lines suffer most. In el‑Fasher, the reported RSF campaign against medical facilities would have weakened the Sudanese army’s ability to stabilize wounded soldiers and undercut civilian morale.
The alleged pattern carries wider implications for Darfur and for outside engagement with Sudan’s conflict. Systematic attacks on medical facilities and personnel violate core protections in international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes. Evidence of repeated strikes on hospitals will influence how foreign governments, the United Nations, and regional bodies approach the RSF leadership, including possible sanctions or travel bans.
The investigation slots into a broader picture of a war in Sudan marked by atrocities in several regions. In that context, the destruction of el‑Fasher’s healthcare looks less like a single episode and more like a tool of control: by cutting off care, armed groups can pressure communities to flee or accept new power structures.
Signals to watch include any independent verification or follow‑up by UN agencies, decisions by humanitarian organizations on whether they can operate in and around el‑Fasher, and whether global or regional bodies move to formally investigate the RSF’s conduct. On the ground, the clearest sign of change would be the reopening of functioning hospitals under credible protection.
Sources
- OSINT