Hospitals deliberately targeted by Sudan's RSF fighters, BBC investigation finds

The investigation found a sustained campaign against healthcare in el-Fasher, not just isolated battlefield damage. From May 2024 to October 2025, at least 43 attacks struck hospitals and other medical sites. Several locations were attacked more than once. The findings matter because international humanitarian law protects medical facilities and staff during war.

South Hospital was shelled repeatedly in late May and early June 2024. On 8 June, RSF fighters raided it, staff fled, patients were killed, and surgical equipment was destroyed, according to witnesses. The hospital then closed. Doctors described the attacks as an effort to drive people away and make medical care impossible.

The destruction left civilians with fewer places for surgery and emergency treatment. Medical workers also faced lethal danger: 55 were killed, 120 injured, and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted between April 2023 and October 2025. The RSF rejected the findings, calling them propaganda. The UN said the reported attacks may amount to war crimes.

The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, are a Sudanese paramilitary group. In the conflict described here, they fought Sudan's military after Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023. The RSF controlled or contested parts of Darfur, including el-Fasher, and later took over the city after a long siege.

The article presents the fighting as a struggle between two armed sides. RSF forces advanced on el-Fasher and attacked areas supporting the city's health system. The Sudanese military and its allies later drove RSF fighters out of South Hospital, while the wider battle eventually ended with the fall of el-Fasher to the RSF.

The source does not state the RSF's broader political objectives or explain its origins. Well-established background identifies the RSF as a Sudanese paramilitary force that grew from Janjaweed militias active in Darfur. Both sides have been accused of attacking health facilities, although this investigation focuses on alleged RSF attacks in el-Fasher.

The BBC counted at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites in el-Fasher between May 2024 and October 2025. Some sites were struck multiple times, so the figure represents attacks rather than only the number of locations. The scale shows how medical care became entangled with the city's wider siege and takeover.

The human cost among medical workers was also severe. Between April 2023 and October 2025, the investigation's data recorded 120 injured workers, 55 killed workers, and 10 who were forcibly disappeared or abducted. These figures include the period before and during the most intense attacks on South Hospital.

The numbers help explain why the city's health system collapsed. A hospital cannot operate normally when buildings are shelled, equipment is destroyed, and staff are killed or taken away. UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the findings deeply disturbing. He said the attacks may amount to war crimes, while the RSF rejected the investigation.

South Hospital was crucial because it carried much of el-Fasher's remaining medical work. The Teaching Hospital had closed after the civil war began, partly because it stood in a conflict zone in the city's center. Services moved to South Hospital, where doctors continued treating patients despite power cuts and shrinking supplies.

Its importance became stark during the siege. In late May and early June 2024, RSF fighters shelled the hospital several times. On one day, staff operated on 16 injured patients. Dr Muhamed Suliman said the area was crowded because South Hospital was the only facility still providing surgical services.

The hospital's loss removed a vital emergency lifeline. On 8 June, RSF fighters raided the building, patients were killed, equipment was destroyed, and the hospital closed. Civilians then faced a city where serious injuries could go untreated. The episode also showed how attacking one central facility could disable much of an already weakened health system.

Attacking or closing hospitals removes the places civilians depend on for urgent care. War injuries that might otherwise be treated can become fatal. People may also lose access to surgery, medicines, childbirth care, and treatment for ordinary illnesses. The danger grows when transport is unsafe and supplies or electricity are already scarce.

El-Fasher shows this chain clearly. South Hospital was the only working hospital providing surgical services after the Teaching Hospital closed. It was shelled several times, then raided on 8 June 2024. Patients were killed, surgical equipment was destroyed, and the hospital shut. Dr Suliman said the attacks were intended to evacuate hospitals and put them out of service.

The result is wider than one damaged building. Medical workers are killed, injured, abducted, or forced to flee, so remaining services become harder to operate. The BBC recorded 55 medical workers killed and 120 injured. Protecting hospitals is therefore essential to civilian survival and to keeping a city functioning during war.

International humanitarian law protects medical facilities, ambulances, and health workers because they treat the wounded and sick, regardless of which side they belong to. This protection helps preserve lifesaving care and keeps civilians from becoming even more vulnerable during fighting. The article states that attacking health facilities or their staff during conflict is illegal.

The protection is not an unlimited shield for military use. Under widely accepted rules, a medical site can lose special protection if it is used, outside its humanitarian role, to commit acts harmful to an enemy. Examples can include using it to launch attacks or store weapons. A warning and a reasonable chance to stop the misuse are generally required before an attack may be considered.

The article does not report such a legal finding about el-Fasher hospitals. Instead, it describes repeated attacks, a raid, destroyed equipment, and attacks on staff. UN officials said the reported conduct may amount to war crimes. Both sides have been accused of attacks on health facilities.

Sudan's civil war began in April 2023 between the RSF and Sudan's military. El-Fasher became one of the conflict's most brutal chapters. The RSF besieged the city, attacked its health system, and eventually took it over. The fighting made hospitals and other civilian infrastructure part of the wider battle.

Darfur's older ethnic conflicts added a dangerous layer. The article says historical ethnic animosities led Arab militias, now the backbone of RSF forces, to target non-Arab groups living in el-Fasher. At South Hospital, a doctor said RSF fighters used ethnic slurs against him before beating him. The account links violence against medical staff to the city's ethnic divisions.

UN investigators reported that the fighting bore the hallmarks of genocide. The BBC investigation therefore describes both direct attacks on healthcare and a broader campaign affecting civilian groups. Both sides have been accused of attacks on health facilities, but the investigation found detailed evidence of repeated RSF attacks during the siege and takeover.