Sudan: MSF suspends operations at key Khartoum hospital

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday that it was suspending operations at one of the few remaining hospitals offering free medical care in the south of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

The decision comes amid an internal armed conflict in Sudan that erupted 20 months ago between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, while leaving more than 30 million in urgent need of aid.

Airstrikes remain frequent in Khartoum amid the civil warImage: REUTERS

What did MSF say?

"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.

"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital," the statement continued.

It said a patient was shot and killed inside the hospital in November and that in December, attackers fired weapons inside the emergency ward, threatening medical staff.

MSF said it was nonetheless continuing to work in 11 states in the country, adding that it hoped "conditions will allow us to return to Bashair Hospital in the future and restart medical activities."

A 'tragic decision'

MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear told the AFP news agency that the suspension was a "tragic decision" that was "not taken lightly."

He said it was taken after consultation with "all of the warring parties around our presence in this hospital."

But he said it was no longer impossible to treat patients safely.

"We can't continue to operate in a situation which is immediately violent as that," Lockyear said.

The hospital is situated in an area under RSF control and has been helping to treat victims of the frequent airstrikes by government forces, along with undernourished women and children.

The war in Sudan has triggered the world's largest reported displacement and hunger crisis, with fighting cutting off access to up to 80% of hospitals in areas of conflict, where millions are still living as they cannot afford to leave.

tj/lo (Reuters, AFP)