The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced Wednesday that it has suspended all activities at a hospital in Darfur, Sudan, following a deadly attack on the facility.
The attack took place on the night of August 16 at Zalingei Hospital, the main hospital in Central Darfur State in western Sudan, MSF said in a statement. The incident left one person dead and five others injured, including a staff member of the Ministry of Health, according to the organization.
“MSF has been forced to suspend all activities at the hospital following an armed assault carried out inside the facility,” the NGO said. The attackers were armed relatives of a patient who had been admitted but later succumbed to his injuries. A clash then erupted with other armed individuals, and a grenade exploded in front of the emergency ward, MSF reported.
The organization stressed that it would “only resume operations once all parties provide clear security guarantees to protect staff and patients.”
Sudan has been mired in conflict since April 2023 between the national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of people, and triggered what the United Nations describes as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” According to the UN, more than 120 humanitarian workers have been killed since the conflict began.
Zalingei Hospital is the only health facility serving the local population of around 500,000 people in a country also grappling with a cholera outbreak. It remains the only hospital in Central Darfur equipped to treat severe cholera cases, MSF noted.
