Inside El Fasher: A city under siege as hospitals and civilians face relentless attacks
The UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented at least 53 civilians killed between October 5-8 alone in attacks across the El Fasher locality, with women and children among the dead.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for the immediate protection of health facilities and unhindered humanitarian access in Sudan, amid escalating violence in the western region of Darfur.
The UN agency warned that repeated attacks on the Saudi Maternity Hospital, the only functioning hospital in the city of El Fasher, are putting civilians and health workers at grave risk.
More To Read
- Scientists discover brain cells linked to depression, offering hope for better treatments
- Drone, artillery strike kills 60 at refugee camp in Sudan
- UN Rights Chief appalled by continued killing of civilians in Sudan
- Conflicts in DRC and Sudan threaten COMESA integration, warns Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe
- Over 60 killed or wounded in two days of Sudan's RSF shelling on civilians in El Fasher, North Darfur
- WHO says rebuilding Gaza’s shattered health system critical to a lasting peace
"Since the beginning of October, Saudi Maternity Hospital has come under attack three times. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of six people, including a child. Another 12 people have been injured, including two children and a health worker. The operating theatre and nearby facilities have been damaged," WHO said in a statement on October 11, 2025.
The agency called for immediate and sustained access for humanitarian workers to deliver essential medical support to the tens of thousands of people affected by the conflict.
Drone strike
Meanwhile, a paramilitary drone strike has killed at least 30 people at a displacement shelter in El Fasher, according to the El Fasher Resistance Committee, a local activist group.
The committee said on Saturday that the strike targeted the Dar Al-Arqam displacement centre, which is located on university grounds. Bodies reportedly remain trapped in underground shelters, and the group described the attack as a “massacre,” urging the international community to intervene.
“Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned,” said the committee, as it called for an international intervention.
“The situation has gone beyond disaster and genocide inside the city, and the world remains silent.”
El Fasher has been under siege since May 2024, limiting access to food, water, medical supplies, and other essential services. The city has been a focal point of the ongoing conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, which has been ongoing since April 2023.
The repeated attacks on civilians, hospitals, and shelters are raising alarm among humanitarian organisations over a deepening crisis.
El Fasher is the last major city held by the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the vast western Darfur region, and has faced intensified attacks from the paramilitary RSF since the army recaptured the capital Khartoum in March this year.
The attack represents the latest in an intensifying pattern of strikes on civilian areas in the city, with the brutal civil war now well into its third year.
The UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented at least 53 civilians killed between October 5-8 alone in attacks across the El Fasher locality, with women and children among the dead.
Top Stories Today
