The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday condemned reports of the killing of hundreds of individuals and their companions at a maternity ward in el-Fashar, Sudan, over the weekend.

In  a statement, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "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."

"All attacks on health care must stop immediately and unconditionally," he said, adding, "All patients, health personnel and health facilities must be protected under international humanitarian law."

Tedros' response came as reports became public that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary had ruthlessly killed 460 patients and companions at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in el-Fasher.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Sudan Doctors' Network said RSF fighters, "cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards."

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was, "deeply alarmed and profoundly shocked" by reports of "horrifying atrocities and immense suffering to which people from el-Fasher are being subjected."

Late Tuesday, Tedros called for the release of four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist reportedly abducted from the hospital.

The massacre took place as the RSF took control of the city of el-Fasher after a brutal 18-month siege marked by mass starvation and heavy bombardment.

The European Union on Wednesday condemned Sudan's paramilitary RSF after the group captured the strategic city of el-Fasher in North Darfur.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement that civilians had been targeted based on ethnicity, underscoring the "brutality" of the RSF.

RSF leader says Sudan will be unified one way or another

On Wednesday, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the RSF, vowed in a speech broadcast on his official Telegram channel that Sudan would be unified.

"The liberation of el-Fasher is an opportunity for Sudanese unity," according to Dagalo, or Hemedti as he is widely known, "and we say: Sudanese unity through peace or through war."

In his statement, Hemedti, whose fighters are accused of committing unspeakable atrocities during their siege, said, "We are sorry for the inhabitants of el-Fasher for the disaster that has befallen them, but... the war was forced upon us.

"Investigators have arrived in el-Fasher, and we uphold the law and require accountability from anyone who has made a mistake," said Hamedti, insisting his forces are "peaceful people."

What has the EU said about Darfur?

The statement, co-signed by European Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, urged the RSF to protect civilians, aid workers and journalists, and to allow humanitarian access to people in need.

"Humanitarian organisations must be granted immediate, safe and unconditional access to all those in need," the statement read. "Civilians wishing to leave the city must be allowed to do so safely."

After an 18-month siege marked by starvation and heavy bombardment, the RSF — descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide two decades ago — seized the city at the weekend, prompting reports of ethnic massacres.

On Tuesday, African Union Commission Chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf took to X to express "deep concern" over the escalating violence and reported atrocities.

In neighboring North Kordofan, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers had been killed in Bara after the RSF took control of the town. Three others remain missing.

Analysts say Sudan is effectively split along an east-west axis, with the RSF controlling most of Darfur and the army entrenched around the Nile and Red Sea regions. The UN estimates more than 30 million people in Sudan urgently need humanitarian assistance — one of the largest displacement and hunger crises in the world.

Satellite imagery shows signs of atrocities

Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab has reported that the RSF carried out mass killings after seizing the city of el-Fasher.

The study, released Tuesday, used satellite imagery to document what the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab described as "alleged mass killings" committed by RSF fighters following their takeover of the city.

Caitlin Howarth, director of conflict analytics at the lab, told DW that the ethnic cleansing came as no surprise based on the group's past actions in the Darfur region. 

She described this as "the culmination of what we have been telling the world was going to be a genocidal campaign by the RSF."

The lab's Nathaniel Raymond warned of a "Rwanda-level mass extermination of people who are trapped inside" the city.

What does Sudan's expulsion of World Food Programme leaders mean?

The UN's World Food Programme reported that the military government had ordered the WFP's two most senior officials to leave Sudan within 72 hours. In a statement from Rome, the agency said Country Director Laurent Bukera and Emergency Coordinator Samantha Katraj were declared persona non grata without explanation.

"The decision forces WFP to implement unplanned leadership changes, jeopardising operations that support millions of vulnerable Sudanese facing extreme hunger, malnutrition, and even starvation," the agency said.

The expulsions came just days after el-Fasher fell to the RSF, further isolating humanitarian agencies as famine and displacement spread.

Edited by: Sean Sinico