Over 460 killed in Sudan maternity hospital massacre as rebels attack patients, staff
A brutal attack on a maternity hospital in Sudan has left more than 460 people dead, including patients, their relatives, and medical staff, in what authorities have described as one of the deadliest massacres since the country’s conflict began.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher — the last functioning medical facility in the city — was attacked on Sunday for the fourth time this month. The assault killed one nurse and injured three health workers.
Two days later, the situation turned catastrophic when Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries reportedly stormed the hospital, abducting six health workers — including four doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist — before allegedly shooting and killing over 460 patients and their companions inside the facility.
Footage circulating online appears to show bodies strewn across the hospital’s wards amid shattered equipment and debris.
“I was performing surgery when heavy shelling hit the hospital,” said Dr. Suhiba, a gynecologist who spoke to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). “A mortar struck nearby, and chaos broke out while my patient was still on the operating table.”
The latest violence comes amid Sudan’s ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF, which erupted in April 2023 over control of the country.
Allied forces supporting the army, known as the Joint Forces, accused the RSF of carrying out mass executions of over 2,000 unarmed civilians between October 26 and 27, most of them women, children, and the elderly.
A report released Monday said the RSF’s actions “may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity and could rise to the level of genocide.”
RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo has vowed to “unify the country — through peace or through war,” despite growing international condemnation over the group’s actions.
