The last operating public hospital in Sudan\u2019s North Darfur state is at risk of closure, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Wednesday, amid fierce fighting between the country\u2019s rival military factions that have left more than 18,000 people dead and 33,000 injured. <\/p>\n
Civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April last year and has intensified in El Fasher, the North Darfur capital, since May when the paramilitary RSF group encircled the city. <\/p>\n
The MSF-supported Saudi Hospital in El Fasher has suffered extensive damage following the continued bombardment of the city over the last week, leaving it barely functional, MSF said. At least 15 people were killed in those attacks and more than 130 others were wounded, it added. <\/p>\n
The facility is the last remaining public hospital in the city with the capacity to treat the wounded and perform surgery, according to MSF. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, another attack on the hospital hit the surgical ward, killing a patient carer and injuring five others. <\/p>\n
\u201cSunday\u2019s attack on Saudi Hospital \u2013 which is the largest hospital in North Darfur state \u2013 makes it crystal clear that the warring parties are making no efforts to protect health facilities or the civilians inside them. Patients fear for their lives as a result of the relentless attacks,\u201d Michel Olivier Lacharit\u00e9, head of MSF\u2019s emergency operations, said in a statement Wednesday. <\/p>\n
As people flee to the Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher in western Sudan, which was hit by shelling one week ago, MSF\u2019s field hospital is under \u201cexceptional pressure\u201d with casualties continuing to arrive, the aid agency said. <\/p>\n
The latest dire reports from El Fasher come as UNICEF, the UN\u2019s children\u2019s agency, said Sudan\u2019s humanitarian crisis was \u201cthe biggest in the world\u201d for children, by numbers. <\/p>\n
\u201cTens of thousands\u201d of Sudanese children are at risk of death if action is not urgently taken, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder warned at a press briefing on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThousands of children have been killed or injured in Sudan\u2019s war. Sexual violence and recruitment are increasing. And the situation is even worse where an ongoing humanitarian presence remains denied,\u201d Elder said. <\/p>\n
Five million children have been forced to flee their homes, making Sudan the world\u2019s largest child displacement crisis, Elder stressed, adding that children are dying as famine starts to take hold in the Zamzam camp. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis month\u2019s determination of famine in one part of Sudan risks spreading and leading to a catastrophic loss of children\u2019s lives,\u201d the spokesman said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last operating public hospital in Sudan\u2019s North Darfur state is at risk of closure,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}