GENEVA

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the reported killings of patients and civilians amid escalating violence in El-Fasher, Sudan, urging an immediate end to hostilities.

The "WHO condemns the reported killings of patients and civilians amid escalating violence in El Fasher, Sudan," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Wednesday in a post on the US social media platform X.

"We call for an immediate end to hostilities; for the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and health care; and safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver life-saving aid," he added.

The Rapid Security Forces (RSF) seized El-Fasher on Sunday following heavy clashes with the Sudanese army, the city that had been under siege by the rebel group since May 2024. Several local and international reports indicate mass killings, systematic ethnic cleansing, and torture of civilians by the rebel group in the city.

More than 460 patients and companions were said to be killed at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El-Fasher, Sudan, following recent attacks and the abduction of health workers.

The army and the RSF have been locked in a civil war since April 2023, a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced over 15 million.