Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in a massacre at a hospital in El Fasher, Sudan. The incident occurred after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of the city.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) expressed shock at the reports. It stated that more than 460 patients and their companions were killed at the Al Saudi hospital.
The city, a major battleground in Darfur, recently fell to the RSF after an 18-month siege that trapped thousands of civilians. The Al Saudi hospital was the last functioning medical facility in the area. It served as a final refuge for many injured and starving people.
The Sudan Doctors Network accused the RSF of killing everyone they found inside “in cold blood”.
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Evidence of widespread atrocities
Analysts from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab believe tens of thousands may have been killed in just two days. Their analysis of satellite imagery shows evidence consistent with mass killings. This includes shapes resembling bodies and large bloodstains at the hospital and other sites.
The RSF has a history of atrocities in the region. The group evolved from the Janjaweed militias, accused of genocide in Darfur in the 2000s. The scale of the recent massacre has prompted international condemnation.
Witnesses report RSF fighters going house-to-house, shooting civilians. Many have fled the city, facing extortion and violence from RSF fighters. The RSF commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, acknowledged “violations” and “abuses” in El Fasher.
He claimed an investigation would be opened. However, with the city under a communications blackout, the full scale of the massacre is difficult to verify. The WHO and other international bodies have called for an immediate ceasefire.
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Image: Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces, rest near the town of Tawila. Photo: STR
