El-Fasher: Last civilian hospital in Sudan city closed after RSF attack

The last operating hospital in western Sudan’s El-Fasher has been closed after an attack by paramilitaries trying to seize the key Darfur city, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said.War has raged for more than a year in Sudan between the regular military under army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo ‘Hemeti’.

El-Fasher in North Darfur is the only state capital in the vast western region not under RSF control, and is a key humanitarian hub for a region on the brink 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,” said the non-profit in a statement posted late Sunday on X.

‘Alarming new chapter’ in Sudan’s civil war

El-Fasher has seen sporadic clashes since the civil war broke out in April last year, but fierce fighting reignited on 10 May in what UN chief Antonio Guterres has called “an alarming new chapter” in the conflict.

Since then, “at least 192 people have been killed and more than 1,230 wounded” in the city, according to a conservative estimate by the medical charity.

…outrageous that the RSF opened fire inside the hospital

MSF said “intensified fighting” around the hospital earlier this week had triggered its evacuation, and by the time of the paramilitary attack “there were only 10 patients and a reduced medical team” there.

It noted that “due to the chaos, our team was unable to verify if there were any killed or wounded” in the latest attack.

Michel-Olivier Lacharite, head of emergencies at MSF, said it was “outrageous that the RSF opened fire inside the hospital”.

“Warring parties must halt attacks on medical care,” he said. “Hospitals are closing. Remaining facilities can’t handle mass casualties.”

No end in sight for civil war

The war across Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, including up to 15,000 in a single West Darfur town, UN experts say.

Nearly 9 million people have been forced from their homes.

Both warring sides have been accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.Rights groups and the United States have also accused the paramilitaries of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.