MSF halts operations in Zalingei Hospital after deadly attack

August 19, 2025 (ZALINGEI) – The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Tuesday it had suspended its work in Zalingei, the capital of Sudan’s Central Darfur state, after a deadly grenade attack inside the city’s main hospital.

The attack on Aug. 16 killed one person and injured five others, including a health ministry staff member, MSF said in a statement. The violence reportedly erupted between armed relatives of two separate patients, culminating in a grenade being detonated in front of the emergency room.

“Our staff cannot risk their lives while providing care,” said Marwan Taher, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Darfur.

The suspension has immediate and critical consequences for the region. The hospital is the only referral facility serving a population of around 500,000 and is the sole medical centre in Central Darfur equipped to handle both emergency cases and severe cholera infections. The decision to close comes amid an outbreak that has already killed seven people. MSF said its teams had treated 162 cholera patients in the first 16 days of August alone.

The closure also halts thousands of monthly gynaecological and paediatric consultations and surgeries.

Zalingei is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), within a politically fractured Central Darfur state. The wider state is split between the RSF, which holds six of nine localities, and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Nur, which holds the other three.

MSF noted this was the second major security breach in 18 months, following a carjacking at the hospital in February 2024. The organization said it cannot resume work until all parties provide “clear guarantees” for the safety of staff and patients.