The main hospital in the Sudanese city of al-Fashir was attacked by paramedics, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which supports the facility, told Reuters on Sunday.
The Darfur region in northwest Sudan is home to more than 1.8 million residents and displaced people and is the latest frontline in the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023.
The UN agency said the Sudanese people were “at risk of starvation” and wanted to push further into RSF headquarters, which controls the capital Khartoum and much of western Sudan.
About 130,000 people fled their homes in al-Fashir as a result of the fighting in April and May, according to the United Nations.
RSF did not respond to a request for comment.
According to MSF, the Southern Hospital is the only hospital in al-Fashir capable of dealing with daily mass casualty cases.
MSF told Reuters that between May 10 and June 6, around 1,315 injured people came to the facility and 208 people died, but many could not go to hospital because of the fighting.
“RSF opening fire inside the hospital is embarrassing. This is not an isolated incident – staff and patients have attacked the facility for weeks, but opening fire inside the hospital crosses the line,” said Michel Lacharite, head of emergency at MSF.
The hospital had earlier begun evacuating patients after being hit by fighting three times since May 25, and the rest of the patients and staff managed to escape.
Al-Fashir Emergency Action, a militant group, said several people were killed and wounded in Sunday’s attack, and that medicine and an ambulance were stolen.
One witness told Reuters he saw people being evacuated from the hospital, and another witness said the RSF fired rockets in and around the hospital.
Another attack on Saturday in the Abu Shuq camp north of the city hit another medical center, injuring more than 30 people and killing at least two, the remaining organizers and volunteers said.
Last week, a report by the al-Aleel humanitarian research laboratory said around 40 settlements outside the city had caught fire since March.
Residents blamed the RSF for the attack.
Going out of the city has proven to be dangerous, as residents say they have been attacked and even killed on the main RSF road out of the city.
Aid workers and residents said most of the people had gone to the Zamzam camp in the south or the Tawila and Jebel Mara areas in the west, where they are controlled by armed groups. .
Sudan’s al-Fashir main hospital shut after RSF attack, aid group says
