Since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a major assault on El Fasher last week, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has received alarming reports of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks on humanitarian workers, looting, abductions, and forced displacement. According to OHCHR spokesperson Seif Magango, numerous residents fled the city in terror and endured a perilous three to four-day journey on foot to reach Tawila, approximately 70 kilometres away.
More than 36,000 people have fled to Tawila since Saturday, joining over 652,000 displaced individuals already sheltering there, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The RSF, a militia born out of the Darfur conflict 20 years ago, has been engaged in a brutal war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023. Sudan now faces the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, with 14 million people uprooted out of a population of 51 million, alongside famine and disease outbreaks.
The RSF reportedly captured El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after more than 500 days of siege. Disturbing accounts suggest that sick and wounded people were killed inside the Saudi Maternity Hospital and nearby buildings being used as makeshift medical facilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 460 patients and their companions were massacred during these attacks. OHCHR has called for an independent and transparent investigation into these grave violations.
Humanitarian partners have also reported widespread sexual violence. At least 25 women were gang-raped by RSF fighters at a shelter for displaced people near El Fasher University, with witnesses stating that women and girls were selected and assaulted at gunpoint. The violence has extended to humanitarian personnel and medical workers assisting vulnerable civilians.
The WHO confirmed repeated attacks on healthcare facilities, including five separate assaults on the Saudi Maternity Hospital in October. Six health workers — four doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist — were reportedly abducted. Dr. Teresa Zakaria of WHO said the agency is currently unable to provide medical aid to victims due to ongoing insecurity. So far this year, WHO has verified 189 attacks on health facilities in Sudan, causing 1,670 deaths and 419 injuries, with 86 per cent of the fatalities occurring in 2025 alone.
Funding for humanitarian operations remains critically low. The Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan is only 27.4 per cent funded, with the health sector receiving just 37 per cent of needed resources. Dr. Zakaria urged the international community not to abandon Sudan, noting that local organizations remain on the frontlines of relief efforts. With the fall of El Fasher, the RSF now controls much of Darfur and southern Sudan, while the SAF retains control over Khartoum and much of the country’s north and centre.
