Thousands detained in dire conditions by RSF in el-Fasher as health crisis deepens
With the city under paramilitary control since late October, the detention of over 2,400 individuals has exacerbated a humanitarian emergency marked by torture and lack of medical care.
The Sudan Doctors Network has reported that thousands of individuals remain detained in dire conditions by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in el-Fasher, western Sudan. The local NGO states that the current detainee population includes more than 1,470 civilians, 20 doctors, and 907 military personnel, held across multiple facilities within the city.
Among the captives are hundreds of women and children, with the network specifically identifying 370 women and 426 children held in locations such as Shalla Prison, a children's hospital, and cargo containers. The group warns that these individuals are subjected to grave abuses, including field executions and severe injuries resulting from shelling without access to medical treatment.
The RSF has been accused of committing numerous crimes against humanity during the conflict in Sudan, which has marked its third anniversary. The paramilitary group is reportedly engaging in severe violations inside the detention centres, including killings during torture and interrogation, as well as ethnically motivated killings.
A cholera outbreak has been ongoing since early February, driven by poor environmental conditions, a lack of clean water, and malnutrition. The capture of medical staff, alongside a critical shortage of supplies, has further debilitated the local health sector, creating a clear link between the violence accompanying the city's takeover and the subsequent collapse of humanitarian conditions.
El-Fasher was the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces before falling to the RSF in late October 2025. The city had been a focal point of the vicious civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023, a conflict the United Nations has described as creating the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF regarding the report. Meanwhile, fighting continues to impact the civilian population, with a recent strike by the Sudanese army on the Hamidiyah camp for displaced people near Zalingei resulting in six deaths and dozens of injuries.
