Sudan doctors’ group voices alarm over colleagues held by army, RSF

April 3, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s doctors’ syndicate committee voiced alarm on Thursday over the fate of five doctors it said have been held by army intelligence and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since October last year.

The committee also reported the separate abduction of another doctor in late March in Darfur, prompting strikes and protests by medical staff there.

Rights groups have reported widespread abuses against civilians, including arrests and killings, by both the army and the RSF during the country’s ongoing conflict.

Adeeba Ibrahim Al-Sayed, a committee member, told the Sudan Tribune news outlet that four doctors – Adam Mohammed Ibrahim, Al-Sadiq Makhol, Nafisa Abdul Rahman, and Khalid Al-Faki – were detained by army intelligence after the army entered the city of Wad Madani.

She said the RSF arrested a fifth doctor, Mohammed Abdul Raouf, early in the conflict, adding the committee did not know his whereabouts or condition.

The committee called on international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to intervene urgently to free the doctors.

Separately, the committee said an armed group abducted Dr. Al-Tahir Mohammed Fadlallah, an internal medicine specialist, from his home in El Daein, the capital of East Darfur state, in late March and took him to an unknown location.

Medical staff at El Daein Hospital and local health centres began a strike on March 22 and held a protest vigil demanding his release, the committee said.

The committee condemned the abduction and said it held the RSF, which controls El Daein, responsible for Fadlallah’s safety. It added that information about his condition and the motive for the abduction remained scarce.