Medics under siege: 'We took this photo, fearing it would be our last'
Doctors have stayed put since civil war erupted in 2023
Saudi Hospital is the only place in North Darfur state with surgical capacity.
Dr Mustafa Ali Abdulrahman Ibo and his colleagues bravely perform surgery under increasing bombardment in the last remaining hospital in el-Fasher, a city that has been under siege for the last nine months in Sudan's western Darfur region.
Over the last month the hospital has recorded 28 deaths and more than 50 injuries among its staff and patients because of intense shelling. This is the highest number of casualties recorded in a month since the siege began.
"Recent continuous attacks targeting Saudi Hospital have intensified dramatically; it has become part of our daily lives," Dr Ibo, a Darfuri who has lived in el-Fasher since 2011, told the BBC.
He said the most frightening day had been when a team of medics were performing an emergency caesarean as the shelling began - a near-death experience for them all.
''The first one hit the hospital's perimeter wall... [then] another shell hit the maternity operating room. The debris damaged the electrical generator, cutting off the power and plunging us into complete darkness,'' he said.
The surgical team had no option but to use the torches on their phones to finish the two-hour operation.
Part of the building had collapsed and the room was full of dust with shrapnel scattered all over the place.
Dr Khatab Mohammed, who had been leading the surgery, described the dangers.
"The situation was dire, the environment was no longer sterile," the 29-year-old medic told the BBC.
"After ensuring our safety and the patient's safety from shrapnel, we cleaned her and changed our surgical gowns since our clothes were full of dust and we continued the surgery," he said, adding that the patient could have died from complications.
It was a testament to their survival, but Dr Mohammed added: "I thought it might be our last photo, believing that another shell would hit the same spot and we would all die."
These doctors - most of whom are graduates of the University of el-Fasher - have stayed put since Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023.
Casualties of the crossfire
The conflict has pitted the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has caused the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, forcing more than 12 million people from their homes.
The fighting has forced all other hospitals in el-Fasher to shut.
South Hospital, which was supported by medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), was the main health facility in the city dealing with war casualties.
It was near the frontline and was stormed in June by RSF fighters, who also looted medicine and equipment and assaulted staff.
Saudi Hospital, which is run by the Ministry of Health and funded by non-governmental organisations, the UN and MSF, specialises in obstetrics and gynaecology but is now providing all medical services - it is the only place in North Darfur state with surgical capacity.
Saving lives
Amid shortages of medical supplies, equipment and personnel, Saudi Hospital is facing ''a heart-breaking situation that violates all humanitarian and international laws and values'', its medical director, 28-year-old Mudathir Ibrahim Suleiman, told the BBC.
He recalled how terrifying it was during recent bombings: "Pregnant women, children and staff were in shock and paralysis, some people were injured and had to be pulled out the rubble.
"All the current conditions push us to consider stopping our work, but women and children have no other place to save their lives except this hospital," he said.
"The staff at the hospital are doing the impossible to save lives."
They went on to perform two more life-saving emergency operations that day.
Dr Ibo admitted it was his colleagues - there are 35 doctors and 60 nurses at Saudi Hospital - who kept him going.
''We lose people every day, and offices and rooms are destroyed, but thanks to the determination of the young staff, we continue to persevere.
''We draw our resilience from the people of el-Fasher - we are its children and graduates of the University of el-Fasher."
Over the last month the hospital has recorded 28 deaths and more than 50 injuries among its staff and patients because of intense shelling. This is the highest number of casualties recorded in a month since the siege began.
"Recent continuous attacks targeting Saudi Hospital have intensified dramatically; it has become part of our daily lives," Dr Ibo, a Darfuri who has lived in el-Fasher since 2011, told the BBC.
He said the most frightening day had been when a team of medics were performing an emergency caesarean as the shelling began - a near-death experience for them all.
''The first one hit the hospital's perimeter wall... [then] another shell hit the maternity operating room. The debris damaged the electrical generator, cutting off the power and plunging us into complete darkness,'' he said.
The surgical team had no option but to use the torches on their phones to finish the two-hour operation.
Part of the building had collapsed and the room was full of dust with shrapnel scattered all over the place.
Dr Khatab Mohammed, who had been leading the surgery, described the dangers.
"The situation was dire, the environment was no longer sterile," the 29-year-old medic told the BBC.
"After ensuring our safety and the patient's safety from shrapnel, we cleaned her and changed our surgical gowns since our clothes were full of dust and we continued the surgery," he said, adding that the patient could have died from complications.
It was a testament to their survival, but Dr Mohammed added: "I thought it might be our last photo, believing that another shell would hit the same spot and we would all die."
These doctors - most of whom are graduates of the University of el-Fasher - have stayed put since Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023.
Casualties of the crossfire
The conflict has pitted the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has caused the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, forcing more than 12 million people from their homes.
The fighting has forced all other hospitals in el-Fasher to shut.
South Hospital, which was supported by medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), was the main health facility in the city dealing with war casualties.
It was near the frontline and was stormed in June by RSF fighters, who also looted medicine and equipment and assaulted staff.
Saudi Hospital, which is run by the Ministry of Health and funded by non-governmental organisations, the UN and MSF, specialises in obstetrics and gynaecology but is now providing all medical services - it is the only place in North Darfur state with surgical capacity.
Saving lives
Amid shortages of medical supplies, equipment and personnel, Saudi Hospital is facing ''a heart-breaking situation that violates all humanitarian and international laws and values'', its medical director, 28-year-old Mudathir Ibrahim Suleiman, told the BBC.
He recalled how terrifying it was during recent bombings: "Pregnant women, children and staff were in shock and paralysis, some people were injured and had to be pulled out the rubble.
"All the current conditions push us to consider stopping our work, but women and children have no other place to save their lives except this hospital," he said.
"The staff at the hospital are doing the impossible to save lives."
They went on to perform two more life-saving emergency operations that day.
Dr Ibo admitted it was his colleagues - there are 35 doctors and 60 nurses at Saudi Hospital - who kept him going.
''We lose people every day, and offices and rooms are destroyed, but thanks to the determination of the young staff, we continue to persevere.
''We draw our resilience from the people of el-Fasher - we are its children and graduates of the University of el-Fasher."
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