‘Like judgement day’: Sudanese doctor recounts escape from el-Fasher

Physician who fled the city’s last functioning hospital recounts the RSF assault on the capital of North Darfur province in October.Published On 31 Jan 2026Mohamed Ibrahim, a Sudanese doctor, feared he would not live to see the sun go down.“All around we saw people running and falling to the ground in front of us,” the 28-year-old physician said, according to a report by The Associated Press news agency on Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Dozens killed in RSF drone attack in war-torn Sudan’s South Kordofanlist 2 of 4Sudan’s war displaced crisis peaks as millions eye return to ruined homeslist 3 of 4Sudan army says two-year RSF siege of key town brokenlist 4 of 4Sudan’s women break ‘traditional rules’ to surviveend of listIbrahim was recounting the assault on el-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur, by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began on October 26 and lasted three days, ending an 18-month siege of the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the province.The RSF and the Sudanese army have been waging a brutal civil war for control of Sudan since April 2023, killing thousands of people and displacing millions. The conflict has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis“We moved from house to house, from wall to wall under nonstop bombardment. Bullets were flying from all directions,” Ibrahim said as he recounted fleeing el-Fasher’s last functioning medical facility.What followed was a systematic campaign of mass killings and ethnic cleansing, according to the United Nations and human rights groups, triggering war crimes investigations and international sanctions.Speaking with the AP from the town of Tawila, about 70km (43 miles) from el-Fasher, Ibrahim provided a rare, detailed first-person account.As RSF fighters swarmed in, they opened fire on civilians scrambling over walls and hiding in trenches in a vain effort to escape, while mowing down others with vehicles, Ibrahim said. He said seeing so many killed felt like he was running towards his own death.