RSF advance on the Southern Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur

CIR’s Sudan Witness project has verified footage showing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers advancing on the Southern Hospital in North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, on 12 September. Sudan Witness previously noted RSF presence at the hospital months earlier on 11 June 2024. However, it is unclear if they lost control of the hospital to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) between June and September. At the time, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported that the RSF looted the facility, forcing it to close. The charity stated that it was one of the last functioning hospitals in El Fasher.

As detailed below, Sudan Witness verified videos posted to a pro-RSF Telegram channel showing RSF soldiers fighting in the streets, before advancing further into the area. The same soldiers are then seen celebrating their capture of a large facility, which Sudan Witness geolocated to the Southern Hospital in El Fasher.

Footage of the incident arose as fighting between the RSF and the SAF appeared to escalate. The RSF and the SAF have fought over control of El Fasher since the start of the war in April 2023, with the RSF besieging the city in May 2024. At the time of writing, the situation in El Fasher is especially fraught. On 30 August, Darfur24 reported that the RSF deployed as many as 750 extra fighters and mobilised approximately 150 vehicles to the city.  Perhaps in relation to this, Sudan Witness observed a major uptick in videos across pro-RSF social media channels showing increased RSF presence.

On 12 September, a pro-RSF account posted a video to Telegram showing RSF soldiers engaged in heavy fighting. Gunfire is heard as soldiers are seen advancing through flooded streets. Sudan Witness geolocated the footage to a street running parallel to the hospital on the eastern side, 120m southeast of the hospital’s main gates. The direction the soldiers are moving suggests they are heading towards the hospital. Later that day, the same pro-RSF account posted a compilation video to Telegram showing soldiers advancing further towards the Southern Hospital. They soldiers boast about their progress, whilst the body of a man in an SAF uniform lies at their feet. At 2:23 minutes in the video, RSF soldiers break into the grounds of the Southern hospital through its eastern entrance before making their way inside the facility. At the end of the footage, the soldiers are seen celebrating on the steps of the hospital.

Two days later, on 14 September, the same pro-RSF account shared a video to Telegram showing the RSF in front of the hospital. Addressing the camera, one of the soldiers states: “We’re the RSF, now here at the South Hospital. We will move forward, no going back, no one can make us go back. We only have two options, victory or Shahada.” “Shahada” شهادة is an Arabic term referring to an act of martyrdom. Gunfire is no longer heard and the soldiers appear to be more relaxed, suggesting they are in control of the area.

This is not the first time Sudan Witness verified the presence of the RSF at the Southern hospital. On 11 June Arko Minawi, the head of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, posted a video to X (formerly Twitter) showing an RSF soldier in the driver’s seat of an ambulance. The footage was geolocated to the southern entrance of the hospital. This corroborated with the MSF’s thread on X, which claimed that RSF soldiers stormed the hospital on 8 June and looted the facility.

According to MSF, several of Darfur’s hospitals have shut down or suffered significant damage during the conflict, making it difficult for civilians to access healthcare or treatment. Reports of increased fighting in El Fasher suggest that the situation is worsening, as the closure of these facilities threatens civilians’ safety and survival.