At least thirteen people have been killed and sixteen others injured, including a doctor and a nurse, after Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a deadly shelling on one of the last functioning hospitals in the besieged city of El-Fasher. The attack, which struck the Saudi Hospital multiple times on Tuesday night, has drawn widespread condemnation from humanitarian groups and Sudanese medics, who have described it as a war crime.
Eyewitnesses and medical staff reported scenes of devastation as the hospital’s windows were shattered, walls torn open, and metal frames of hospital beds twisted from the blasts. Images from the aftermath revealed bloodstained floors, crumbling brick walls, and patients being carried out amidst chaos. The RSF, which has laid siege to El-Fasher for more than seventeen months, continues to battle Sudan’s army for control of the city the last remaining military stronghold in the vast and war-ravaged Darfur region.
This marks the second time the Saudi Hospital has been hit this year. The first attack, in January, killed three children and wounded three others. Tuesday’s strike destroyed entire wards and further crippled what was once one of the city’s last lifelines for medical care. The ongoing conflict has forced most hospitals to close, leaving thousands without access to even basic treatment.
According to experts, the RSF has intensified its offensive on El-Fasher in recent weeks, raising fears that the city could soon fall unless the Sudanese army receives reinforcements. The civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces has raged for over two years, killing tens of thousands and plunging Sudan into what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
New satellite imagery analysed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) revealed that the RSF has completed construction of a massive 57-kilometre earthen wall — or berm — encircling El-Fasher, effectively cutting off all major escape routes. Civilians attempting to flee the city have reported widespread extortion, arbitrary detention, disappearances, and sexual violence at RSF checkpoints.
With aid convoys blocked from entering the city, hunger and disease are spreading rapidly. “After over 500 days of unremitting siege by the RSF and incessant fighting, El-Fasher is on the precipice of an even greater catastrophe if urgent measures are not taken to loosen the armed vice upon the city and to protect civilians,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned last week.
As the siege tightens, thousands of trapped civilians continue to live in fear amid bombardment, starvation, and the collapse of healthcare. The attack on the Saudi Hospital underscores the worsening humanitarian crisis and highlights the urgent need for international intervention to halt Sudan’s descent into total devastation.
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