BBC Investigation Finds 43 Attacks on Healthcare Facilities in Sudan’s El-Fasher

A BBC investigation has found evidence of at least 43 attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in el-Fasher, Sudan, during a prolonged siege and the subsequent takeover of the city by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The investigation documented attacks between May 2024 and October 2025, with some facilities reportedly struck multiple times. The findings have raised fresh concerns about the destruction of healthcare services and the impact of Sudan’s ongoing civil war on civilians and medical workers.

UN Raises Concerns Over Possible War Crimes

UN human rights chief Volker Türk described the findings as “deeply disturbing”, saying repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, constituted serious violations of international humanitarian law and might amount to war crimes.

The RSF has rejected the investigation’s findings. Dr Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister in the group’s civilian-affiliated government, dismissed the allegations as propaganda intended to damage the paramilitary group’s reputation.

However, the BBC said interviews with people who were in el-Fasher, including six doctors, revealed a pattern of attacks that severely disrupted medical services. The investigation found no independent evidence supporting Nugud’s claims that the South Hospital was being used as a military base.

Medical Workers Killed and Abducted

According to the BBC’s data, between April 2023 and October 2025, 55 medical workers were killed, 120 injured and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted in el-Fasher.

Doctors described repeated shelling and drone attacks on the Saudi Maternity Hospital, which became the city’s last functioning healthcare facility after other hospitals and clinics shut down.

Medical staff reportedly attempted to continue treating patients by reinforcing buildings with sandbags, constructing underground shelters and moving operations to temporary locations. These alternative sites were also attacked.

One doctor, Izzeldin Ahmed Dawaud Asow, said a makeshift operating theatre was attacked five times in 2025. He also recounted incidents in which drones allegedly struck people transporting injured patients, killing several people.

Hospital Takeover and Massacre Allegations

The RSF seized el-Fasher in October 2025. On October 25, fighters stormed the Saudi Hospital amid allegations that more than 460 patients and their companions were killed. The RSF denied that a massacre occurred, while the World Health Organization condemned the reported killings.

The BBC also reported that some medical workers were captured while attempting to flee the city and were later made to work at healthcare facilities under RSF control. One doctor told the broadcaster he felt forced to remain, fearing he would be shot if he spoke out.

The RSF-backed administration has since released videos showing the Saudi Hospital and Teaching Hospital reopened and treating patients. Its health minister also said the South Hospital was expected to reopen.

Sudan’s Wider Healthcare Crisis

The findings come amid a civil war that began in April 2023 between Sudan’s military and the RSF. Both sides have faced allegations of attacks on healthcare facilities.

The WHO described the events in el-Fasher as one of the clearest and most severe examples of the conflict’s wider impact on healthcare in Sudan. UN investigators have also said the fighting in the city bore the “hallmarks of genocide”, amid reports of attacks targeting non-Arab communities.

A year after el-Fasher fell to the RSF, the conflict remains unresolved, while attacks on healthcare and the broader humanitarian crisis continue to threaten civilians across Sudan.

BBC News