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

The BBC found at least 43 attacks on el-Fasher hospitals and healthcare sites between May 2024 and October 2025. Some facilities were hit repeatedly, suggesting a deliberate campaign. Witnesses described shelling, raids, killings, and destroyed equipment.

At South Hospital, the city's main surgical facility, RSF shelling began in late May and early June 2024. Fighters raided it on 8 June, forcing staff to flee over a back wall. Director Izzeldin Ahmed Dawaud said fighters beat him, used ethnic slurs, and destroyed surgical equipment. They also left several patients dead, indicating attacks aimed to empty the hospital and stop care.

This pattern matched surgeon Dr Muhamed Suliman's account that attacks were deliberate and planned. The toll was severe: 55 medical workers killed, 120 injured, and 10 abducted or disappeared by October 2025. UN chief Volker Türk called the findings deeply disturbing and warned they may amount to war crimes.

The BBC documented at least 43 attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites in el-Fasher. Between May 2024 and October 2025, some sites were struck repeatedly. Across April 2023 to October 2025, 55 medical workers were killed, 120 injured, and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted.

One major example was South Hospital, the city’s main functioning surgical facility. It was shelled repeatedly before RSF fighters raided it on 8 June 2024. Staff fled, equipment was destroyed, and the investigation says fighters sought to empty hospitals and disable healthcare.

This meant civilians lost one of their last places for surgery during the siege. The WHO called el-Fasher one of Sudan’s clearest and most severe examples of healthcare’s collapse in war. With facilities attacked and workers killed, injured, or abducted, emergency treatment became harder to provide.

The attacks crippled el-Fasher’s healthcare system, putting patients and medical workers in danger while civilians lost access to essential treatment. Hospitals were shelled, raided, closed, or stripped of equipment, making remaining facilities unsafe and overcrowded.

At South Hospital, the city’s only working surgical hospital, staff treated 16 injured patients on the day of an initial bombing. The RSF’s 8 June raid drove workers over a back wall, while director Izzeldin Ahmed Dawaud was beaten; several patients’ bodies and surgical equipment were found afterward. These attacks forced medical workers to flee or work under extreme fear.

From April 2023 to October 2025, 120 medical workers were injured, 55 killed, and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted. With facilities repeatedly attacked, civilians lost surgery, emergency care, and a safe place to seek help, showing how destroying hospitals harms an entire city’s survival.

El-Fasher became a major battleground because it was a key city in Darfur, populated largely by non-Arab groups. The RSF’s largely Arab forces targeted these communities, giving the fighting wider ethnic and political stakes.

After war began in April 2023, several facilities closed, including the Teaching Hospital. Services moved to South Hospital, but the 2024 siege brought repeated shelling and an RSF raid on 8 June. Power cuts and dwindling supplies weakened care, while staff fled and equipment was destroyed.

By October 2025, the BBC documented at least 43 attacks on healthcare sites. Medical workers suffered 55 deaths, 120 injuries, and 10 forced disappearances or abductions. The siege removed treatment and safe spaces, creating conditions that investigators say may involve war crimes.

International humanitarian law protects hospitals, ambulances, and medical workers because they treat wounded people and civilians. They must remain neutral, so people can seek care without becoming military targets. Destroying them can collapse healthcare for an entire city.

In el-Fasher, South Hospital was the only facility providing surgical services during the siege. The RSF shelled it repeatedly, then raided it on 8 June 2024. Staff fled, the director was beaten, and surgical equipment was destroyed. These attacks removed treatment when patients had nowhere else to go.

The BBC found at least 43 attacks on healthcare sites between May 2024 and October 2025. It also recorded 55 medical workers killed, 120 injured, and 10 forcibly disappeared or abducted. These figures show why protection is practical, not symbolic: without safe staff and facilities, civilians lose surgery and emergency care. Such attacks may violate international law and amount to war crimes.

International law protects hospitals and medical workers because wounded people need care during war. A hospital can lose protection only if used for harmful military acts, usually after a warning. Treating wounded fighters does not by itself remove protection. If attackers knowingly target a protected hospital, or attack unlawfully after protection ends, it can become a war crime.

In el-Fasher, South Hospital was the city’s only surgical hospital when RSF forces shelled it repeatedly in 2024. On 8 June, fighters raided the building; staff fled, and the director described beatings and destroyed surgical equipment. Investigators must establish deliberate unlawful targeting, not a lawful attack on military use.

The BBC identified at least 43 attacks on el-Fasher healthcare sites from May 2024 to October 2025. Across Sudan, 55 medical workers were killed, 120 injured, and 10 abducted or disappeared through October 2025. Each case requires evidence, but repeated attacks can show intent and make accountability more urgent.