The World Health Organization has called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan following the deaths of more than 460 people at a maternity hospital in El Fasher, amid the ongoing civil war between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan’s official army — a conflict that has gripped the country since April 2023.
According to WHO reports, the 460 patients and their relatives were killed by the RSF, which captured El Fasher last week. The city, once home to over one million people, has been under siege by the RSF since May 2024. In August that year, famine was declared in a displacement camp south of the city. This April, the RSF stormed the camp, killing up to 2,000 of its 50,000 residents.
Since the start of the fighting in April 2023, WHO has documented 185 attacks on healthcare facilities, leaving at least 1,204 people dead.
With the fall of El Fasher, the RSF now controls all of Darfur — one-third of Sudan’s territory. In the region, they have set up a parallel administration opposing the central government, while also extending control into parts of the south. Meanwhile, the national army retains control of the north, the east, and central Sudan, having recaptured the capital, Khartoum, in March.
After two years of brutal conflict over Sudan’s control, more than 40,000 people have been killed — a figure that NGOs say is likely far below the real toll — and over 14 million have been displaced. The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan is now considered the world’s worst ongoing crisis.
Sources: Τhe Washington Post, Guardian
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