Sudan's Paramilitary Forces Accused of Mass Killings in El-Fasher

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of killing hundreds of civilians, including patients at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, following their seizure of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, stated that 460 patients and their companions were reportedly killed at the hospital. He expressed that the WHO was "appalled and deeply shocked" by these reports.

The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group monitoring the conflict, reported that RSF fighters "cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards."

Residents and aid workers have described severe atrocities committed by the RSF, which has been engaged in conflict since 2023 to gain control over Sudan. The RSF's recent capture of El-Fasher followed a prolonged siege exceeding 500 days.

RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged "abuses" by his forces and announced the initiation of an investigation, though he did not provide further details.

The RSF has previously been accused by the United Nations and human rights organizations of committing atrocities, including a 2023 attack on Geneina, another city in Darfur, where hundreds were killed.

Satellite imagery analyzed by the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab corroborated reports of mass killings by the RSF around the Saudi Hospital and other locations in El-Fasher. The lab also reported targeted attacks on health facilities and humanitarian aid workers, actions that may constitute war crimes.

International condemnation has followed these events. Mohamed Osman, a Sudan researcher with Human Rights Watch, stated that footage from El-Fasher "reveals a horrifying truth: the Rapid Support Forces feel free to carry out mass atrocities with little fear of consequences." He urged global action to protect civilians from further crimes.

U.S. Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denounced the RSF's actions and called for the group to be designated as a foreign terrorist organization, stating that the RSF has "waged terror and committed unspeakable atrocities, genocide among them, against the Sudanese people."