A year after paramilitary fighters seized el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, a BBC investigation has concluded that the city's hospitals were not merely caught in the crossfire but systematically dismantled during a long siege. It is a familiar human pattern, where those who heal become targets, and the question now is whether the testimony of doctors who lived through it will be met with the scrutiny that international law demands. The denial from the authorities aligned with the paramilitary group leaves the matter open, with the truth waiting on evidence that can be weighed by others.
BBC Investigation Finds Evidence Paramilitaries Systematically Targeted el-Fasher's Hospitals
Doctors describe hospitals in el-Fasher being targeted during a long siege and takeover, damaging the city's healthcare capacity for its residents.
A healthcare system systematically destroyed, a year after the city fell
Mark
Why does this investigation matter beyond the fighting itself?
Mimi
Because it alleges a pattern. The BBC says the healthcare system was systematically destroyed, which is different from hospitals being hit in crossfire.
Luke
Careful, though. What do we actually have? Two doctors support the claim, and the BBC reports evidence. The summary doesn't spell out what that evidence is.
Mark
Fair. So what is the legal stake?
Mimi
Attacking health facilities or their staff in conflict is illegal under international law. A systematic campaign is what turns this from tragedy into alleged violation.
Luke
Alleged is the right word. Volker Türk called the findings deeply disturbing, but that's a reaction, not a verdict.
Mark
And the other side?
Mimi
Dr Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister of the group's civilian-affiliated government, called it propaganda.
Luke
Which means a flat contradiction, and we don't have anything here that resolves it. We also don't know how many hospitals, or how many patients or staff were affected.
Mark
What should a reader hold onto?
Mimi
That a year on, doctors are describing a deliberate dismantling, and no accountability has surfaced yet.
Luke
Hold onto the second half too: unresolved is the honest status.
Il Polso
- A BBC investigation has found evidence that hospitals in el-Fasher were deliberately targeted, not struck by accident in the fighting.
- Two doctors have spoken out, describing a healthcare system being dismantled while the city remained under siege.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk has called the findings deeply disturbing, and attacks on health facilities are illegal under international law.
- Sudan's health minister has flatly dismissed the allegations as propaganda, leaving the central claim fiercely contested.
- No court, inquiry or sanction has yet followed, and the watch now is whether the UN's alarm becomes a formal investigation.
A year after paramilitary fighters seized el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, a BBC investigation has concluded that the city's hospitals were not merely caught in the crossfire but systematically dismantled during a long siege. It is a familiar human pattern, where those who heal become targets, and the question now is whether the testimony of doctors who lived through it will be met with the scrutiny that international law demands. The denial from the authorities aligned with the paramilitary group leaves the matter open, with the truth waiting on evidence that can be weighed by others.
A year after paramilitary fighters took el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, a BBC investigation has concluded that the city's healthcare system was not simply swept up in the fighting. According to its findings, the system was systematically destroyed during the long siege and the takeover that followed, with hospitals deliberately targeted rather than damaged by chance.
Two doctors spoke to the BBC's Africa correspondent, Barbara Plett Usher, and both backed the claim that hospitals were attacked. Their accounts describe people working inside a health system being taken apart while the city remained surrounded, and the loss of its capacity to treat residents.
Under international law, attacking health facilities and the staff who work in them during armed conflict is illegal, which is why a pattern of such attacks carries more weight than any single strike. UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the findings deeply disturbing, though it is not yet clear whether any formal UN step has followed.
The other side rejects the accusations outright. Dr Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister in the government aligned with the paramilitary group, dismissed the allegations as propaganda. Accountability remains unresolved, and the coming weeks may show whether the UN's concern becomes a formal inquiry and whether more evidence emerges that can test the denial.
A year after paramilitary fighters took el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, a BBC investigation has concluded that the city's healthcare system was not simply caught up in the fighting. According to the BBC's findings, it was systematically destroyed during the long siege and the takeover that followed.
The fighters at the center of the findings are Sudanese paramilitaries, whose forces besieged el-Fasher for an extended period before seizing it. The investigation points to evidence that hospitals were deliberately targeted, rather than damaged incidentally in the course of battle. The source material does not detail what that evidence consists of; the report itself is a video piece, and the account here rests on its summary.
Two doctors spoke to the BBC's Africa correspondent, Barbara Plett Usher, and both support the claim that hospitals in the city were systematically attacked. Their testimony forms part of the human core of the investigation: these are people who worked inside a healthcare system that was being dismantled while the city remained under siege, and whose accounts describe the loss of the city's capacity to treat its residents.
The findings carry legal weight. Under international law, attacking health facilities or the staff who work in them during armed conflict is illegal. That is the frame in which the investigation's conclusions are being read, and it is why the allegation of a systematic pattern matters more than any single strike would.
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, responded to the findings by calling them deeply disturbing. His reaction gives the investigation institutional attention, though the source does not say whether any formal UN step has followed.
The accusation is firmly rejected by the other side. Dr Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister in the government affiliated with the paramilitary group, dismissed the allegations as propaganda. His denial means the central claim is contested: the BBC reports evidence and doctors' testimony, while the authority controlling the city's administration says the story is false.
What remains unresolved is accountability. The findings arrive a year after the fall of el-Fasher, and the available material does not point to any investigation, court, or sanction that has emerged from them. What to watch for next is whether the UN's alarm turns into a formal inquiry, and whether the doctors' accounts are joined by further evidence that can be tested against the denial.
Citazioni salienti
The findings are deeply disturbing.— Volker Türk, UN human rights chief
The allegations are propaganda.— Dr Alaa Eldin Nugud, health minister of the paramilitary-affiliated government (paraphrased)
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