An assault by Sudanese paramilitary forces to grab management of a key metropolis in Darfur shut down the final working hospital within the area, medical charity Doctors Without Borders has mentioned.
War has raged for greater than a yr between the common navy beneath military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
El-Fasher in North Darfur is the one state capital within the huge western area not beneath RSF management and is a key humanitarian hub for a area on the point of famine.
“On Saturday, MSF and the ministry of health suspended all activities in South Hospital, El-Fasher, North Darfur, after RSF soldiers stormed the facility, opened fire and looted it, including stealing an MSF ambulance,” mentioned the NGO in an announcement posted late Sunday on X.
El-Fasher has seen sporadic clashes because the warfare broke out in April 2023, however fierce combating reignited on May 10 in what U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has known as “an alarming new chapter” within the battle.
Since then, “at least 192 people have been killed and more than 1,230 wounded” within the metropolis, based on a conservative estimate by the medical charity.
MSF mentioned that “intensified fighting” across the hospital earlier this week had triggered its evacuation, and by the point of the paramilitary assault “there were only 10 patients and a reduced medical team” there.
“Most patients and the remaining medical team … were able to flee the RSF shooting,” MSF added.
It famous that “due to the chaos, our team was unable to verify if there were any killed or wounded” within the newest assault.
Michel-Olivier Lacharite, head of emergencies at MSF, mentioned it was “outrageous that the RSF opened fire inside the hospital.”
“Warring parties must halt attacks on medical care,” he added. “Hospitals are closing. Remaining facilities can’t handle mass casualties.”
The warfare throughout Sudan has killed tens of 1000’s of individuals, together with as much as 15,000 in a single West Darfur city, U.N. specialists say.
Nearly 9 million folks have been compelled from their properties.
Both warring sides have been accused of warfare crimes together with intentionally concentrating on civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian help.
Rights teams and the United States have additionally accused the paramilitaries of ethnic cleaning and crimes in opposition to humanity.
Source: www.dailysabah.com