Last functioning hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, is said to have been attacked and raided

A violent raid by anti-government forces over the weekend left one of the last hospitals in the Sudanese town of El-Fasher unusable, forcing medical staff and patients to flee to safer areas again, Doctors Without Borders reported on Monday.

The civil war between the pro-government Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been raging in Sudan for almost 14 months. Almost 15,000 people have been killed and another 9 million have been displaced within their own country or in neighboring countries.

El-Fasher, the provincial capital of Sudan’s North Darfur region, is the last major city still under government control. However, reports from medical personnel in El-Fasher told international media that rebel forces have been shelling the city for days, particularly targeting the southern hospital where they are stationed.

On Saturday, RSF fighters reportedly attacked the facilities, entering the hospital to steal equipment and medical supplies while threatening staff. Due to the ongoing violence, only ten patients and a much smaller staff were present during the attack.

“Due to the chaos, our team was unable to determine whether there were any deaths or injuries,” said Maximilien Kowalski, interim head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Sudan.

The RSF and its allies are also accused of committing ethnic cleansing among Darfur’s non-Arab populations and of engaging in widespread sexual violence and mass murder.