MSF condemns attack on ambulance in El Fasher, one killed
January 12, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – A medical charity has condemned an incident in which its ambulance was shot at while transferring a female patient in labor requiring emergency surgical procedure from its field hospital in Zamzam camp to Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur.
The incident, Medicines San Frontiers (MSF) said, occurred in El Fasher on January 10.
The Saudi Hospital is the only public facility with surgical capacity still standing in the area.
MSF said an unknown gunman shot at a clearly marked ambulance with its logo and flag, fatally injuring one of the caretakers who passed away after the team eventually reached Saudi Hospital.
This is the second shooting against an MSF ambulance in less than a month in El Fasher, it noted.
“We are horrified by this deadly attack on a humanitarian crew carrying out lifesaving medical work where it’s desperately needed. Our priority is to support the people who have been attacked and are obviously shocked. We also need to engage with all armed actors active in the area to understand what happened and obtain guarantees that patients, medical staff, ambulances and health facilities are respected to continue working”, says Michel Olivier Lacharité, MSF’s head of emergency operations.
According to the medical charity, its ambulance was hit by bullets in El Fasher on 27 December during a similar referral of patients from Zamzam to Saudi Hospital, but no one was injured.
Since May 2024, fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) allied with a coalition of armed groups have significantly escalated in the area.
MSF said it currently runs a field hospital in Zamzam camp, where people face repeated shelling from the RSF after months of siege and starvation. However, because of the worsening security conditions, the medical charity had to suspend part of our medical services, like the outpatient program for malnourished children, to focus on the most critical cases requiring hospital care.
“Since December, we have treated 51 people injured by the shelling in Zamzam,” it stated.
(ST)