North Darfur’s remaining hospital risks closure as Sudan’s civil war intensifies

By Caitlin Danaher, CNN

(CNN) — The last operating public hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur state is at risk of closure, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Wednesday, amid fierce fighting between the country’s rival military factions that have left more than 18,000 people dead and 33,000 injured.

Civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April last year and has intensified in El Fasher, the North Darfur capital, since May when the paramilitary RSF group encircled the city.

The MSF-supported Saudi Hospital in El Fasher has suffered extensive damage following the continued bombardment of the city over the last week, leaving it barely functional, MSF said. At least 15 people were killed in those attacks and more than 130 others were wounded, it added.

The facility is the last remaining public hospital in the city with the capacity to treat the wounded and perform surgery, according to MSF.

On Sunday, another attack on the hospital hit the surgical ward, killing a patient carer and injuring five others.

“Sunday’s attack on Saudi Hospital – which is the largest hospital in North Darfur state – makes it crystal clear that the warring parties are making no efforts to protect health facilities or the civilians inside them. Patients fear for their lives as a result of the relentless attacks,” Michel Olivier Lacharité, head of MSF’s emergency operations, said in a statement Wednesday.

As people flee to the Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher in western Sudan, which was hit by shelling one week ago, MSF’s field hospital is under “exceptional pressure” with casualties continuing to arrive, the aid agency said.

Crisis facing children

The latest dire reports from El Fasher come as UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, said Sudan’s humanitarian crisis was “the biggest in the world” for children, by numbers.

“Tens of thousands” of Sudanese children are at risk of death if action is not urgently taken, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder warned at a press briefing on Tuesday.

“Thousands of children have been killed or injured in Sudan’s war. Sexual violence and recruitment are increasing. And the situation is even worse where an ongoing humanitarian presence remains denied,” Elder said.

Five million children have been forced to flee their homes, making Sudan the world’s largest child displacement crisis, Elder stressed, adding that children are dying as famine starts to take hold in the Zamzam camp.

“This month’s determination of famine in one part of Sudan risks spreading and leading to a catastrophic loss of children’s lives,” the spokesman said.

Correction: The headline of this story has been updated to correct that the hospital that risks closure is in North Darfur.

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