RSF raid on El Fasher only hospital puts critical medical care in peril
June 8, 2024 (EL FASHER) – Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed El Fasher South Hospital on Saturday, before violent clashes erupted nearby with the Sudanese army and allied forces, ultimately leading to the RSF’s withdrawal.
The MSF-supported South Hospital, the only operational facility in the city capable of handling mass casualties, has been subjected to repeated attacks since the conflict between the army and the RSF began on May 10.
Doctors at the hospital reported to the Sudan Tribune: “RSF fighters stormed the hospital, confiscating phones and belongings of medical staff. The hospital director and the medical director were injured during the raid.”
Eyewitnesses described RSF fighters infiltrating El Fasher and storming the hospital, followed by battles with the army and allied popular movement forces.
Clashes occurred on three fronts within the city, displacing thousands of residents who fled the fighting and RSF artillery shelling targeting residential areas and shelters.
The South Hospital has endured several RSF attacks in May and recent days, prompting Doctors Without Borders to call for its evacuation to a safer location.
El Fasher in Flames
Darfur Governor Minni Minawi, speaking at a press conference in Port Sudan, said the RSF attacked El Fasher on Saturday “from multiple directions and infiltrated the hospital, where many injured people were being treated, as a result of deliberate bombing.”
He stated that the army and allied forces repelled the attack, but emphasized that the city was “burning.”
Minawi reported that his daily assessments show a higher civilian death toll compared to soldiers from the army and allied forces, describing this as “an attempt at genocide and ethnic cleansing against the residents of El Fasher.”
He condemned the RSF as a “terrorist organization” posing a danger to both humans and animals, stating that some members would require “psychological treatment” after the war to reintegrate into society.
According to Minawi, the RSF aims to control El Fasher to deliver Darfur to an unnamed country that pledged to take over the region after its fall, and to suppress any resistance.
He declared: “The people of Sudan cannot surrender to the Rapid Support Forces, which was founded on ethnic, tribal, and racist principles.”
Minawi affirmed that he would not give up on appealing to the RSF and the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Tagadum) to embrace national unity and participate in a national dialogue encompassing all Sudanese people.