The World Health Organization (WHO) is “appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and their companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher in Sudan”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Gunmen attacked the hospital – the only one that is partially functioning in the town – on Tuesday, reportedly killing 460 patients and their companions. Four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist were also abducted.

Healthworkers said that the gunmen, from the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF), burst into the hospital and opened fire without warning, WION reports.  The RSF have been engaged in war with the Sudanese military since April 2023.

“All attacks on healthcare must stop immediately and unconditionally,” said Tedros. WHO has verified 285 attacks on healthcare in Sudan with at least 1,204 deaths and over 400 injuries of health workers and patients, since the start of the conflict.

.@WHO is appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, #Sudan, following recent attacks and the abduction of health workers.

Prior to this latest attack, WHO has verified 185… pic.twitter.com/CbAjtqYUAh

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 29, 2025

“The WHO said that there is a “rapidly worsening crisis in North Darfur’s El Fasher, where escalating violence, siege conditions and rising hunger and disease are killing civilians, including children, and collapsing an already-fragile health system”.

The region of El Fasher has been cut off from humanitarian aid since February, and “malnutrition is rising sharply, especially among children and pregnant women, weakening immunity and heightening vulnerability to cholera, malaria, and other infectious diseases”, said WHO.

Over 260,000 people are trapped in the region with almost no access to food, clean water, or medical care. Many civilians fleeing the RSF takeover have sought safety in Tawila, some 60km from the regional capital of El Fasher, which fell to the RSF a few days ago. It was the last remaining government-controlled city in the region.

 Over 100,000 more people are expected to move to Tawila in the coming days and weeks, adding to the 575,000 already displaced from El Fasher who are sheltering there and other areas. 

“Many of the displaced are women and unaccompanied children facing acute shortages of shelter, protection, food, water, and health care,” said the WHO.

‘Abduction, killing and maiming, and sexual violence’

“No child is safe,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell told UN News. “While the full scale of the impact remains unclear due to widespread communications blackouts, the estimated 130,000 children in El Fasher are at a high risk of grave rights violations, with reports of abduction, killing and maiming, and sexual violence.”

UNICEF is calling for an immediate ceasefire to stop the violence, safe, unimpeded humanitarian access, the protection of civilians – especially children – and guaranteed safe passage for families seeking refuge, in line with international humanitarian law.

Despite access restrictions to El Fasher, WHO teams are working around the clock to keep health services running where possible, particularly in areas where people displaced by insecurity arrive.

Twenty metric tons of medicines and emergency kits, including supplies for cholera and management of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications, are being moved from Nyala to Tawila to support medical and rapid-response teams providing care for displaced people, said WHO.

WHO reports that it is also working with health partners at reception sites in Korma, located between El Fasher and Tawila, to stabilise critically ill and injured people and facilitate referrals to Tawila.

“WHO calls for an immediate end to hostilities in El Fasher and all of Sudan; for the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and health care; and safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver lifesaving aid.”

‘Profound shock’

Five local members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were also killed this week while working as volunteers in Bara, North Kordofan state.

“We received this news with profound shock and outrage, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrific and senseless act,” said the ICRC in a statement.

UN’s head of humanitarian operations in Sudan, Denise Brown, told UN News after recently visiting the Darfur region before the fall of the city this week, that it’s proving hard to verify information from the stricken city, but all atrocities needed to be accounted for so that “justice can be served”.