El Fasher Healthcare Under Fire: RSF shells child malnutrition centre in IDP Camp
El Fasher, 27 June 2024 – The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued their assault on medical facilities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Thursday. The latest attack destroyed a child malnutrition treatment centre in a camp overflowing with displaced people.
This attack further exacerbates the near-total collapse of the health sector in El Fasher, as the RSF has intensified its targeting of medical infrastructure in recent days.
On June 9, the Ministry of Health and Doctors Without Borders announced the suspension of operations at El Fasher South Hospital following a devastating RSF attack. The Saudi Hospital has also suffered two attacks since the conflict began, and the dialysis centre, serving approximately 94 patients, has been targeted as well.
“The RSF targeted the therapeutic feeding centre in Abu Shouk camp for displaced people with heavy artillery, destroying a warehouse containing vital treatment for malnourished children,” Lana Awad Sabil, a media official at the North Darfur State Ministry of Health, told Sudan Tribune.
Sabil emphasized that the destruction of this facility will worsen the health of vulnerable children and put their lives at risk, especially considering that the main children’s hospital serving all five Darfur states has been out of commission since the war’s onset.
Ibrahim Abdallah Khater, Director General of the Ministry of Health in North Darfur State, condemned the RSF’s deliberate and repeated attacks on healthcare facilities in a press statement on Thursday. He urged the international community to denounce these actions and take decisive measures against those responsible for destroying vital health institutions.
While Khater confirmed the overall stability of the health situation and the absence of disease outbreaks, thanks to the dedication of medical personnel, he stressed that the ongoing artillery shelling of hospitals remains a critical concern. The ministry is actively working to find an alternative location for the damaged dialysis centre.
This latest attack underscores the dire situation facing children in Sudan. In April, UNICEF projected that around 4 million children under five would suffer from acute malnutrition this year, with 730,000 facing life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.
Additionally, the Coordination of Displaced Camps in North Darfur issued a humanitarian appeal in March, highlighting the urgent need for intervention due to the deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions in the region’s camps.