Since April 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in a power war that has resulted in the world’s worst displacement and starvation catastrophe.
Repeated attacks have prompted medical assistance organization MSF to halt operations at one of the few hospitals still operating in southern Khartoum, the organization said on Friday, cutting off yet another lifeline for those still in the Sudanese capital.
The hospital, which is located on RSF-controlled territory, assisted in treating hundreds of undernourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been identified as being at risk of famine, as well as victims of repeated airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces.
“In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients,” MSF stated in a statement.
“These attacks have persisted in recent months in spite of intensive consultations with all parties. Now, MSF has made the extremely tough choice to halt all hospital medical operations.
Up to 80% of hospitals in crisis areas in Sudan have been cut off by the war, leaving millions of people unable to flee the bloodshed. As both warring parties obstruct supply and prices rise, civilians experience frequent air and artillery fire as well as hunger.
RSF soldiers have often attacked medical institutions, even those backed by MSF that have halted operations, in an attempt to obtain treatment or steal supplies.
According to MSF, Bashair Hospital has provided care for over 25,000 individuals, including 9,000 injured by explosions, gunshot wounds, and other forms of violence. In the statement, MSF mentioned an incidence on Sunday where an airstrike a kilometer distant sent 50 individuals to the emergency department, 12 of whom were already dead. “Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets,” the organization stated.
