Sudan: MSF suspend operations in major Khartoum hospital

The medical aid organisation MSF announced on January 10th that it had no choice but to suspend its operations at one of the last few hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, leaving another critical lifeline in the Sudanese capital severed, reported Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in conflict stemming from a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the lead-up to a planned transition to civilian governance, sparking the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, located in RSF-controlled territory, has been treating victims of regular airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, along with hundreds of malnourished women and children, in an area where two neighbourhoods have been classified as famine-risk zones, according to Reuters.
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MSF said in a statement: “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.”
“Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital.”
The conflict in Sudan has rendered as many as 80% of hospitals in affected regions non-operational, leaving millions who are unable to flee the violence without access to care. Civilians endure relentless air and artillery attacks and widespread hunger as both sides block supplies, driving prices to untenable levels.
Healthcare facilities, including those supported by MSF which have suspended operations, have frequently been targeted by RSF forces demanding medical attention or stealing supplies. MSF reported that Bashair Hospital has provided care to over 25,000 individuals, including 9,000 suffering from blast injuries, gunshot wounds, and other forms of violence.
“Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets,” MSF said in a statement, citing an incident on January 5th when an airstrike a kilometre away resulted in 50 individuals going to the emergency room, 12 of whom were already deceased.
READ: Three million Sudan children to face acute malnutrition – UNICEF
Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters.