By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged for a ceasefire in Sudan after hundreds of people have been murdered, including 460 people in a hospital, as paramilitaries have captured the El-Fasher region.

The Sudanese army which is aligned with the government has accused the Rapid Support Force (RSF) of targeting mosques and Red Crescent aid workers in the city, as there is satellite footage of mass killing reported by Yale’s University Humanitarian Research Lab.

“I am appalled and deeply shocked by reports of the tragic killing of more than 460 patients and companions at Saudi Maternity Hospital in El-Fasher following recent attacks and the abduction of health workers” said WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus on X.

 “Civilians and all those who no longer take part in the hostilities must be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law,” said the International Committee of the Red Cross in a statement on Wednesday.

 After 18 gruelling months of starvation and bombardment, the capture of El-Fasher has completely solidified RSF’s control over Darfur. El-Fasher was the last of five state capitals to be captured by RSF, which is led by General Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, as they have been running rampant for two years.

 “More than 2000 civilians were killed during the militia’s invasion of El-Fasher targeting volunteers in mosques and the red crescent” said Mona Nour Al Daem, who serves as the humanitarian aid officer for the army-aligned government in a press conference on Wednesday.

Truce talks have been stalled as the fall of El-Fasher has now been seized by RSF, a region which covers a third of Sudan as warfare is now breaking out in the Kordofan region.

 Already five Sudanese volunteers of the Red Cross and Red Crescent have been killed in Bara, a city in Kordofan which was seized on Saturday and three more volunteers are missing.

“Civilians being targeted based on their ethnicity underscores the brutality of the Rapid Support Force” said Kaja Kallas who serves as the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief.

More than 33,000 people have fled El-Fasher for the town of Tawila since Sunday, as the town has already welcomed 650,000 people who have been displaced according to the United Nations. Around 177,000 people still remain in El-Fasher which had a population of a million before the war began. Satellite communications into the city have been cut off but not for the RSF, as they are in control of the Starlink network.