Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday that Sudan’s North Darfur capital of Al Fasher has been largely destroyed and emptied of residents following its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after months of a siege.

In a statement published on its website, the medical aid group said it was recently granted limited access to Al Fasher to assess the situation of civilians and health facilities, marking its first visit to the city since it suspended operations there in August 2024.

MSF said its team spent four hours in the city on January 15 under constant supervision by security officials, describing that most areas have been destroyed and the neighbourhoods largely abandoned.

“The city now resembles a ghost town,” it said, adding that only a small number of civilians appeared to have remained or returned after the RSF seized control last October.

Grim reminder

MSF teams went to two displacement sites hosting mostly women, children, and the elderly. In health facilities, they encountered around 20 male patients suffering from old injuries and reiterated their readiness to support referrals for patients in need of surgery to MSF projects with surgical capacity elsewhere.

Although the visit did not allow for a full and independent assessment, MSF said it did not observe massive acute medical needs across the city, noting that it stood in stark contrast to Al Fasher’s former status as a regional capital.

The organisation said the visit served as a grim reminder of the scale of destruction in Al Fasher, warning that much of the civilian population appears to have been killed or displaced.

MSF said its findings echoed accounts of mass killings, torture, kidnappings and other violence in Al Fasher and along escape routes, as reported by patients treated in recent months in Tawila, about 60 kilometres away.

Devastating war

Following the RSF takeover of Al Fasher in late October, MSF said it has been working to locate and assist survivors in Darfur and along the border with eastern Chad, adding that concerns continue to grow about the fate of civilians who were still alive when the city fell.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a devastating war. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.