| No images? Click here  Wednesday, 29 October 2025 NEWS RELEASE WHO condemns killings of patients and civilians amid escalating violence in El Fasher, SudanGeneva/Cairo---The World Health Organization (WHO) condemns the reported killing of more than 460 patients and their companions, as well as the abduction of six health workers, on 28 October from the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher. This latest tragedy is taking place in the 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. On 26 October, Saudi Maternity Hospital, the only partially functioning hospital in El Fasher, was attacked for the fourth time in a month, killing one nurse and injuring three other health workers. On 28 October, six health workers, four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist, were abducted. On the same day, more than 460 patients and their companions were reportedly shot and killed in the hospital. More than 260 000 people remain trapped in El Fasher with almost no access to food, clean water, or medical care. Escalating violence has forced about 28 000 people to flee El Fasher Town in recent days, 26 000 of them to rural areas of El Fasher and up to 2000 to Tawila. 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. In addition to violence, and the lack of basic essentials for life and health, cholera continues to spread rapidly in El Fasher as people lack access to safe water. Disease surveillance and response activities are reduced as a result of the deteriorating security situation. This year alone, El Fasher has reported 272 suspected cases of cholera and 32 deaths, an alarming case fatality rate of nearly 12%. Across Darfur, 18 468 cases and 662 deaths have been recorded in 40 localities. WHO is coordinating with health partners at reception sites in Korma, located between El Fasher and Tawila, to stabilize critically ill and injured people and facilitate referrals to Tawila. WHO is also preparing to deploy rapid response teams within Tawila and surrounding localities to respond to the urgent health needs of those arriving from El Fasher. WHO trucks are on standby in Darfur to join a UN aid convoy carrying food, medicines, and lifesaving health supplies into El Fasher as soon as access opens. 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. More information here : https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/sudan-emergency Dr Tedros’s statement on X: https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1983529376130965998
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