Kuwait city: United Nations agencies on Friday sounded the alarm over shocking reports of atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s El-Fasher and Bara, including mass killings, summary executions, rape, looting, and other horrific crimes. During a joint press briefing with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Seif Magango, revealed that preliminary estimates suggest hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the RSF assault on El-Fasher.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Magango noted that communications blackouts and the chaotic situation on the ground are hindering access to direct information. He stated that the OHCHR had documented killings of patients and wounded individuals in neighborhoods temporarily serving as medical centers, as well as mass killings inside Al-Saudi Hospital where over 460 people reportedly died.
Magango also cited additional reports of serious violations during the RSF’s capture of Bara in North Kordofan State, which included the summary execution of five Red Crescent volunteers and the killing of around 50 civilians on or around October 26. He noted that the actual number of victims is likely to be much higher. Reports of sexual violence, the abduction of six medical workers, and the killings of humanitarian staff and volunteers assisting local communities were also mentioned.
He warned that these grave violations could amount to multiple crimes under international law, calling for independent transparent investigations and accountability for perpetrators, while ensuring justice and reparations for victims and their families. Magango reiterated UN High Commissioner Volker Turk’s appeal to states with influence over the warring parties to act urgently to halt the violence and stop the flow of arms fueling the conflict.
Meanwhile, the Head of Humanitarian Operations at the WHO, Teresa Zakaria, voiced deep concern over continuing attacks on the health sector. She noted that following the strike on Al-Saudi Maternity Hospital, the only facility still partially operating in El-Fasher, no humanitarian health presence remains in the city. Zakaria said the WHO has verified 189 attacks on health facilities in Sudan this year, leading to 1,670 deaths and 419 injuries, with most fatalities recorded in 2024. She highlighted that attacks are becoming deadlier.
She noted that 40 percent of health facilities are non-functional and another 12 percent operate only partially, leaving much of the country without essential medical care. Zakaria urged an immediate end to hostilities in El-Fasher and across Sudan to protect civilians and humanitarian staff and to allow safe unhindered access for aid.
Zakaria confirmed that WHO and its partners, including Sudanese organizations, are working continuously to sustain services and prepare convoys carrying food, medicine, and life-saving aid to El-Fasher once access becomes possible, urging the international community not to abandon the people of Sudan.