Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Sunday that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked and looted the main hospital in the Sudanese city of El Fasher, rendering it non-operational.
El Fasher, located in the Darfur region of northwest Sudan, is home to more than 1.8 million residents and displaced persons. It has become a recent battleground in the ongoing conflict since April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The RSF, which controls the capital Khartoum and most areas in western Sudan, is attempting to advance further into central Sudan. UN agencies have warned that the Sudanese population faces an imminent risk of famine. According to the UN, around 130,000 people fled their homes in El Fasher due to fighting in April and May.
The RSF has not responded to requests for comment.
MSF, as reported by Reuters, stated that the southern hospital in El Fasher was the only facility capable of handling what the organization describes as daily events with a large number of casualties. MSF reported that between 10 May and 6 June, approximately 1,315 injured individuals were admitted to the hospital, with 208 deaths. However, many people are unable to reach the hospital due to ongoing fighting.
Michel-Olivier Lacharité, MSF’s Head of Emergency Operations, said in a statement, “It is disgraceful for the RSF to open fire inside the hospital. This is not an isolated incident; staff and patients have been attacked at the facility for weeks by all sides, but shooting inside a hospital crosses the line.”
The hospital had already started evacuating patients earlier, having been hit by conflict three times since 25 May. The remaining patients and staff managed to escape.
The El Fasher Emergency Room and Camps, a volunteer group, reported on Sunday that the RSF attack resulted in several deaths and injuries, and medicines and an ambulance were looted during the incident.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing people fleeing the hospital and said that the RSF fired rockets at the hospital and its surrounding areas.
The Abu Shouk Camp Coordination and a volunteer reported that another attack occurred on Saturday at the camp north of the city, affecting another medical facility and resulting in at least two deaths and over 30 injuries.
