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A new Reuters investigation has revealed that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a systematic campaign to destroy the health care system in el-Fasher, documenting drone pursuits of wounded civilians, attacks on hospitals and the killing of at least 40 health care workers over the past 18 months.
The investigation found that the campaign began in the spring of last year and escalated after the RSF seized the city, tracking the wounded with drones, executing doctors and shelling hospitals over the past 18 months.
The data shows that since the war began, health care facilities in North Darfur have been attacked, damaged or obstructed at least 130 times.
The investigation attributed at least 71% of these incidents to the RSF, while holding the Sudanese Armed Forces responsible for 3% of them. According to the data, at least 40 health care workers have been killed.
In response to questions from Reuters, a senior Sudanese army official denied reports that the military had attacked medical facilities.
“The army was the one defending civilians in el-Fasher before the Rapid Support Forces entered the city, and this is the army’s duty anywhere in Sudan,” the official said.
Three doctors told Reuters that the Saudi Hospital in el-Fasher came under heavy attack after it became the city’s last functioning medical facility for more than a year. The assaults escalated from artillery strikes to drone attacks, and in recent months, the bombardment has become almost daily.
Seven paramedics and three other sources told Reuters that drones had pursued health care workers. Doctors were forced into hiding, performing surgeries in trenches and private homes.
El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan, is witnessing an unprecedented humanitarian collapse after the Rapid Support Forces seized control of the city in late October, amid reports of severe abuses, killings, rapes and mass displacement.
According to the United Nations, thousands of civilians are fleeing el-Fasher on foot toward the town of Tawila, 60 kilometers away, along what has been dubbed the “road of death,” where survivors face thirst, hunger and repeated attacks as they attempt to escape.
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