A tragedy unfolding in silence: the sad tale of Darfur lingers…

Turning Point Foundation strongly condemns the horrific killing of more than 460 patients and their companions, as well as the abduction of six health workers, from the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher on 28 October 2025. This atrocity, carried out within a hospital meant to be a place of healing and safety, violates every moral and legal standard that governs conflict. It stands as one of the most shocking episodes in Sudan’s worsening humanitarian crisis.

The Saudi Maternity Hospital, the only partially functioning health facility in El Fasher, has now been attacked four times in a single month. On 26 October, a nurse was killed and three others injured during another assault. Two days later, four doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist were abducted, while hundreds of patients and their families were reportedly shot and killed. These repeated violations reflect the complete breakdown of respect for the sanctity of health care, a core principle under International Humanitarian Law.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), forty-six health workers have been killed in El Fasher since the conflict began, including the Director of Primary Health Care in the State Ministry of Health, while another forty-eight have been injured. The status of staff from three humanitarian organizations operating in the region remains unknown. These relentless attacks have devastated an already fragile health system, leaving thousands of civilians without access to even the most basic medical services.

The humanitarian situation in North Darfur has reached catastrophic levels. More than 260,000 people remain trapped in El Fasher with almost no access to food, clean water, or health care. In recent days, an estimated 28,000 people have fled—most to rural areas of El Fasher and others to Tawila, where more than 575,000 displaced people are already seeking shelter. Reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicate that many of these displaced individuals are women and unaccompanied children enduring acute shortages of food, water, and protection.

Health conditions are rapidly deteriorating. WHO reports 272 suspected cases of cholera and 32 deaths in El Fasher this year, reflecting an alarming case fatality rate of nearly 12 percent. Across Darfur, more than 18,000 cases and 662 deaths have been recorded in 40 localities. Malnutrition, especially among children and pregnant women, is escalating as the city remains cut off from humanitarian aid deliveries since February 2025. Hunger, disease, and violence have combined to create a deadly cycle that is pushing countless families to the brink of survival.

Despite these dire circumstances, humanitarian organizations continue to make extraordinary efforts to deliver assistance. Medical supplies, including treatment kits for cholera and severe acute malnutrition, are being moved from Nyala to Tawila, while aid convoys remain on standby to reach El Fasher as soon as safe access is granted. Yet these interventions, though vital, cannot meet the scale of need without an immediate end to hostilities.

Turning Point Foundation joins the international community in calling for an immediate cessation of the fighting in El Fasher and across Sudan. Civilians, health workers, and humanitarian personnel must be protected, and the sanctity of hospitals and medical facilities must be upheld. Safe and unrestricted humanitarian access is urgently needed to deliver lifesaving aid. Above all, those responsible for these brutal attacks on civilians and health workers must be held accountable for their crimes.

The crisis in El Fasher is not an isolated event but part of a long and painful pattern of violence that has plagued Darfur for decades. The international community must act decisively to end this cycle, secure justice for victims, and support sustainable peace and recovery. The people of Sudan deserve safety, dignity, and the right to health without fear.

Turning Point Foundation stands in solidarity with the victims, the families mourning unimaginable losses, and the health workers risking their lives to care for others. The world must not look away!