Aid organizations are raising alarm that only a small fraction of people fleeing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Darfur city of el-Fasher have reached safety, with mounting evidence pointing to mass atrocities, a hospital massacre, and a desperate humanitarian situation .
Aid workers in Tawila, a town about 70 kilometers west of el-Fasher, report that the number of people arriving from the fallen city is alarmingly small. Mathilde Vu of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which manages a camp in Tawila, stated, "The number of people who made it to Tawila is very small... Where are the others? That tells the horror of the journey" . This sentiment is echoed by the International Rescue Committee, which notes a "big gap in terms of young men and adult men" among those who have arrived, raising urgent concerns about the fate of those trapped or attempting to flee . Survivors who made it to Tawila are arriving in a "deplorable state," often after walking for days without food or water and suffering injuries .
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported it was "appalled and deeply shocked" by reports that more than 460 patients and their companions were shot and killed at the Saudi Maternity Hospital, the last partially functioning hospital in el-Fasher. The Sudan Doctors Network confirmed the attack, detailing that RSF soldiers went into hospital wards killing inpatients and those waiting in clinics . Satellite imagery analyzed by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab appears to show groups of bodies on the hospital grounds, corroborating these accounts. This is part of a broader pattern of violence; the UN's top humanitarian official, Tom Fletcher, told the Security Council that the "horror is continuing… with utter impunity".
Dozens of videos circulating on social media, many apparently filmed and shared by RSF fighters themselves, show the paramilitary force carrying out extrajudicial killings and other serious violations. One verified video shows an RSF fighter shooting a wounded, unarmed man in civilian clothing five times at close range as the man begs for mercy. The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, analyzing satellite imagery, has found evidence consistent with mass killings, including what appear to be bodies and large areas of red discoloration on the ground in several locations. UN investigators state these are not random acts of war but a "deliberate pattern" and a "deliberate strategy to terrorize and starve civilians, particularly from certain ethnic groups".
The fall of el-Fasher has triggered international outrage and an emergency session of the UN Security Council. The UN humanitarian chief condemned the violence and called for an immediate ceasefire and accountability for those responsible. In response to the backlash, RSF leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) acknowledged "violations" by his forces and promised an investigation . However, both observers and UN experts are deeply skeptical. A UN investigator from the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan expressed a lack of confidence in such internal probes, stating, "These institutions are opaque, not transparent, and we have no confidence whatsoever that it will lead to anything". This skepticism is fueled by similar unfulfilled promises made by the RSF after past atrocities.
The situation for those still in and around el-Fasher remains dire. The city had been under an 18-month RSF siege, with fighters preventing food, medicine, and aid from reaching hundreds of thousands of trapped civilians . This led to widespread starvation, with one medical charity reporting that 75% of children under 5 they screened were acutely malnourished . The UN's migration agency says over 26,000 people have fled el-Fasher since the takeover, but aid groups fear this is only a fraction of those in need . The town of Tawila, already hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people, is now at "breaking point" .