Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has condemned ongoing violent attacks on patients and staff at Bashair Teaching Hospital, located in a Rapid Support Forces-controlled area of Khartoum, a note from the agency said.
Despite extensive engagement with all stakeholders, the attacks have continued in recent months, MSF said. The humanitarian agency has now taken the “very difficult decision” to suspend all medical activities in the hospital. In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside staff at Bashair Hospital, there have been repeated incidents of armed fighters storming in with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding that fighters be treated before other patients, it said.
“The suffering we witness in Khartoum is enormous. Intense and extreme violence continues daily. Shortages and blockages of food, supplies and humanitarian aid leave people scrambling to survive. The medical needs are overwhelming. Injuries are often horrific. Mass casualty incidents have become almost routine,” said Claire San Filippo, MSF Emergency Coordinator. MSF halted work at the nearby Turkish Hospital in July last year after threats of violence against staff, it said.