Sudan: Main Hospital in Darfur City Shuttered After RSF Attack

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Facts

• Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that the hospital in al-Fashir, Sudan, a city of 1.8M in the northwestern region of Darfur, has been closed after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked and looted the building.¹
• MSF says RSF fighters opened fire on the hospital staff and patients on Sunday, with casualties yet to be determined. 10 patients and a downsized medical crew were present at the time, with most patients being transferred to other facilities.²
• The RSF, which has been at war with Sudan's military since April 2023, has been ratcheting up its efforts to capture al-Fashir, the last government stronghold in Darfur. 120 died in two weeks of fighting in and around the city last month.²
• In their statement, MSF said the attack on the South Hospital was 'not an isolated incident,' adding that the hospital was struck by mortar and artillery fire from May-June in attacks that killed two and injured 14.³
• South Hospital was the last hospital in the humanitarian hub of al-Fashir and has treated 1.3K wounded since May 10, with patients now being moved to other medical facilities. It was also one of two hospitals with surgical capacity.⁴
• MSF is moving its operations in al-Fashir to the Saudi Hospital, which it says is not yet equipped to treat patients. The civil war in Sudan has cost the lives of around 15K and led to the displacement of 9M — the most of any conflict worldwide.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Associated Press, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Middle East Eye and ⁵BBC News.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Despite the humanitarian crisis being one of the worst in the world, the war in Sudan remains a hidden conflict. As the RSF encircles al-Fashir, the risk of genocide against the non-Arab population in Darfur grows bigger by the day. What's worse, the world's silence has emboldened them, with the pleas of NGOs falling on deaf ears. Sudan needs an international peacekeeping force on the ground now.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Sudan has suffered from an excess of foreign intervention, not a dearth of it. The political condition in the country was worsened by international pressure against Islamist political groups and even tepid support for the RSF in their fight against the government. Several years ago, the West tried to push a political transition onto the country without accounting for its cultural differences — resulting in the predictable conflict we now see between pro- and anti-Western factions.

Predictions