Sudan's paramilitary forces killed hundreds of people, including patients in a hospital, after they seized the city of Al-Fasher in the western Darfur region over the weekend, according to the United Nations and displaced residents and aid workers.
The 460 patients and companions were reportedly killed at Saudi Maternity Hospital in Al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, adding the WHO was "appalled and deeply shocked" by the reports.
The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking the war, said fighters from the Rapid Support Forces on Tuesday "cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards".
United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric condemned the violence.
"Today, we were horrified by reports of the tragic killings of more than 460 people, both patients and their companions, at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El-Fasher," Dujarric said.
"This follows recent attacks and the abduction of health workers. Prior to this latest attack, our colleagues at WHO verified 185 attacks on health care in Sudan, 1,204 deaths and 416 injuries of health workers and patients since the start of the conflict in April of 2023."
More than 460 patients and companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital were reportedly killed. Source: AAP / AP / Airbus DS 2025
"The Janjaweed showed no mercy for anyone," said Umm Amena, a mother of four children who fled the city on Monday after two days, using a Sudanese term for the RSF.
RSF commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged what he called "abuses" by his forces.
In his first comments since the fall of Al-Fasher, posted on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday, he said an investigation was opened but did not elaborate.
The RSF has been accused by the UN and rights groups of atrocities throughout the war, including a 2023 attack on another Darfur city, Geneina, where hundreds of people were killed.
Amena was among three dozen people, mostly women and children, who were detained for a day by RSF fighters in an abandoned house close to the Saudi Hospital in Al-Fasher.
Since Sunday, more than 33,000 people have fled Al-Fasher for the town of Tawila, about 70km to the west, which has already welcomed more than 650,000 displaced people, the UN says.
Around 177,000 people remain in Al-Fasher, which had a population of more than one million before the war, according to UN figures.
UN refugee agency official Jacqueline Wilma Parlevliet said that the new arrivals told stories of widespread ethnic and politically motivated killings, including reports of people with disabilities shot dead because they were unable to flee, and others shot as they tried to escape.
Witnesses told the Associated Press that RSF fighters — on foot, riding on camels, or in vehicles — went from house to house, beating and shooting at people, including women and children. Many died of gunshot wounds in the streets, some while trying to flee to safety, the witnesses said.
Footage of the attacks triggered a wave of outrage around the world. France, Germany, the UK and the European Union all condemned the atrocities.
Mohamed Osman, Sudan researcher with Human Rights Watch, said that footage coming out of Al-Fasher "reveals a horrifying truth: the Rapid Support Forces feel free to carry out mass atrocities with little fear of consequences".
"The world needs to act to protect civilians from more heinous crimes," he said.
