Sudan's Rapid Support Forces allegedly killed hundreds of doctors and patients inside a medical facility in El Fasher, as reported by medical monitoring groups.
International Outrage and Official Statements
The head of the global health body expressed being “appalled and deeply shocked” by accounts that over 460 individuals had been slain at the maternity medical facility.
A healthcare organization following the war declared in a public message that “The Rapid Support Forces yesterday … murdered everyone they found inside the Saudi hospital.”
Context of the War
Hostilities has been escalating between the government troops and the RSF since last year, when a power struggle within the government escalated into armed confrontation in the main city and rapidly expanded across the country.
Sudan's army occupy large portions of the northern and eastern regions, having recaptured the capital in last spring, while the RSF maintains presence in the western and southwestern regions.
The City Situation
El Fasher, formerly a city of more than 1 million people, has been under siege by the RSF since spring 2024.
During that period, famine was declared in the refugee settlement for refugees, south of the city.
During spring, the Rapid Support Forces killed as many as 2,000 people when it captured the facility, which at the period sheltered 500,000 people.
Historical Patterns of Violence
Analysts had been warning that an RSF takeover of the regional capital would most likely be a replication of its takeover of the West Darfur capital in last year.
RSF forces killed as many as 15,000 civilians at that time, mainly from non-Arab groups.
Background and Global Classification
The RSF grew out of the previous militia groups that were charged with committing genocide of ethnic populations in Darfur in the early 2000s.
Earlier this year, the United States formally declared that the RSF had carried out genocide.
Recent Events
A group of military factions supporting Sudan's military stated that the Rapid Support Forces had killed more than 2,000 non-combatants since capturing El Fasher.
The group's head, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, admitted there had been “violations” by his fighters in his first comments since the fall of El Fasher.
Imagery Findings
Satellite experts analyzed orbital photographs of the medical facility on late October.
On Tuesday, multiple groups of light-colored materials and “suspicious markings” appeared near the hospital, having not existed the earlier.
Regarding several items, the items were approximately body-length, while the measurements of the materials in the other collection remained unverified.
Additional Indications
The report also identified “signs of large-scale murders” at an military prison at a former children's hospital in the eastern part of the city.
Ongoing “organized executions” was also noted at the east of the city's earth walls, initially constructed as a security system by the government forces and then reinforced by the RSF.
Expert Opinion
The full count cannot be determined to establish accurately how many people have been murdered by the Rapid Support Forces in the region.
A conflict analytics director remarked: “This isn't minor counting, we're facing hundreds and thousands and, in time, there will be many thousands.”
Civilian Testimonies
Survivors who made it out of the conflict zone have described being stripped of belongings and extorted for ransom by armed groups.
Several individuals reported being subjected to violence.
There is probability that several have perished during escape, trying to reach safe areas.
Witness Testimonies
News organizations contacted witnesses who said armed men went house to house, assaulting and firing upon people, involving women and children.
Many were killed by bullet wounds in the roads, several while attempting to escape.
“The scene resembled a slaughterhouse. Corpses scattered and people bleeding and no one to help them,” reported a middle-aged male from a temporary shelter about 37 miles west El Fasher.
