Medical personnel evacuate as uprisings strike and halt North Darfur's sole healthcare facility.
On Saturday, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) raided a hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur, stealing an ambulance and other supplies. MSF Sudan, a pressure group that provides medical aid, announced the suspension of all activities at the South Hospital due to the attack.
"On Saturday, we and the Ministry of Health suspended all activities in South Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur, after RSF soldiers stormed the facility, fired weapons, and robbed it," MSF Sudan said in a social media statement.
The hospital was the main facility in the area capable of handling mass casualties and was an essential referral hospital for treating wounded during the war, according to MSF. It was also one of the two in El Fasher with surgical capacity. Due to the attack, patients are now being transferred to Pediatric and Saudi hospitals that are ill-prepared for the sudden influx.
At the time of the raid, there were just ten patients and fewer staff at the hospital because of the heightened fighting in the region. Medical staff had already started transferring patients and services to other hospitals earlier in the week, MSF said.
There has been no response from the RSF regarding the incident so far.
MSF stated that most patients and the remaining medical team, including MSF personnel, managed to escape the violence but they are unsure if there were any casualties due to the mayhem that followed.
The hospital had previously faced multiple shelling and gunfire incidents, causing two deaths and 14 injuries among patients and caretakers between May 25th and June 3rd, MSF added.
"It's appalling that the RSF opened fire inside the hospital. This isn't an isolated incident. Staff and patients have been under attack on the facility for weeks from all sides, but opening fire inside a hospital crosses a line," said MSF's Head of Emergencies Michel Lacharite as quoted by MSF Sudan on social media.
"Warring parties must stop attacking medical care. Hospitals are closing. The remaining facilities can't deal with mass casualties. We're trying to find solutions. The responsibility is on warring parties to spare medical facilities," Lacharite added.
The European Union (EU) has expressed its dismay over the RSF-Janjaweed attack on South Hospital in Darfur. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, Nabila Massrali, posted on Twitter: "The EU is shocked by the RSF-Janjaweed raid on the El Fasher South Hospital in Darfur, along with stealing it, as they've done with several other hospitals in Sudan. We reiterate our call for RSF to show restraint and abide by International Humanitarian Law."
Based on reports, El Fasher is home to approximately 1.8 million people who are facing an imminent risk of famine. In April and May, nearly 130,000 people were displaced from their homes due to the fighting between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as monitored by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Sudan's ongoing civil war between the SAF and RSF started in April 2023 and has displaced over 8.8 million people and put 24.8 million in need of help, as reported by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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Despite the ongoing conflicts and uprisings in North Darfur, Africa, international organizations continue to call for the protection of medical facilities. The European Union, for instance, expressed disappointment over the RSF-Janjaweed attack on the El Fasher South Hospital in Darfur, urging the RSF to adhere to International Humanitarian Law.
