Sudan: MSF may stop work at hospital after 18 staff attacked
July 21, 2023
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Friday it may have to stop humanitarian work at a hospital in Sudan if its staff continue to be attacked.
The announcement comes a day after the group said 18 of its aid workers were attacked while supporting the Turkish Hospital in Khartoum.
"If an incident like this happens again, and if our ability to move supplies continues to be obstructed, then, regrettably, our presence in the Turkish Hospital will soon become untenable," said Christophe Garnier, MSF's emergency coordinator for Sudan.
MSF is one of the few aid organizations still active in Sudan after many others pulled out due to safety concerns.
The charity says it has treated more than 1,600 war wounded patients in Khartoum since the conflict began in April.
What happened in the attack on MSF aid workers?
In a statement published on its website on Friday, MSF said one of its medical teams was stopped by a group of armed men while driving in Khartoum on Thursday.
The MSF team was transporting medical supplies to the Turkish Hospital in the south of the city.
"After arguing about the reasons for MSF's presence, the armed men aggressively assaulted our team, physically beating and whipping them," the charity said.
"They detained one of our drivers and threatened his life before releasing him. They also stole one of our vehicles."
The group did not say whether the attackers were in uniform or provide other details.
Fighting continues in Sudan
Sudan has been in the midst of a civil war since mid-April when fighting broke out between the army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group (RSF).
More than 3,000 people have died as the conflict turned Khartoum into an urban battlefield and spread out into the regions, including in Darfur where it has fueled a resurgence of ethnic violence.
Some 3 million people have also been displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Fighting has recently intensified in Khartoum as warplanes pound residential areas to try to dislodge the RSF who set up bases there years ago.
On Friday, residents reported air raids in Khartoum as well as in the city of El-Obeid 350 kilometers (220 miles) to the south.
zc/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa)