Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported on Monday, July 22, 2024, that civilians in Sudan are suffering from horrifying levels of violence amid ongoing attacks and violations, more than a year into the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The report titled “War on Humanity: The Human Cost of Conflict and Violence in Sudan” highlights the breakdown in civilian protection, with communities facing random violence, murder, torture, and sexual violence amidst continuous attacks on healthcare workers and medical facilities.
MSF’s report details that both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, along with their supporters, are perpetrating horrific violence across the country, leading to catastrophic loss of life since the onset of fighting.
Amidst the difficulty in estimating the number of war victims, the report reveals that in just one of the supported hospitals, Al-Nu Hospital in Omdurman, Khartoum state, MSF treated 6,776 patients for injuries from violence between August 15, 2023, and April 30, 2024, averaging 26 people per day.
The organization has treated thousands of patients nationwide for conflict-related injuries, primarily from explosions, gunshots, and stabbings. In Bashair Educational Hospital in Khartoum, 4,393 people were treated for severe injuries between May 2023 and April 2024.
Vickie Hawkins, General Director of MSF, stated that the warring parties in Sudan are reflecting a horrifying level of violence against civilians since the war began. She added that the ongoing conflict has had catastrophic consequences on the Sudanese people, who have endured terrible violence and are still dying due to the fighting, surviving repeated attacks and violations.
Hawkins urged all warring parties to cease all forms of violence and violations against the people of Sudan, as the current conflict has a disastrous impact on their lives, health, and well-being. She also called for facilitating the expansion of humanitarian aid and, above all, ending this senseless war.
The report notes that 70% of hospitals have effectively gone out of service, with repeated assaults on facilities where MSF provides services. It also reveals that 30% of the war casualties treated at Al-Nu Hospital in Omdurman in March were women and children under ten years old.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. While the exact toll of the conflict remains unclear, estimates suggest it could be as high as 150,000, according to U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello.
Approximately ten million people have been displaced within the country or have sought refuge in neighboring countries since the onset of the battles, according to United Nations statistics. The fighting has largely destroyed the country’s infrastructure, with over three-quarters of health facilities out of service.
