Sudan: Main Hospital in Darfur City Shuttered After RSF Attack
Sudan: LastMain Hospital in Darfur City Shuttered After RSF Attack
The Facts
Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that the hospital in al-Fashir, a city of 1.8M in the northwestern region of Darfur, has been closed following an attack and a looting by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
MSF says that on Sunday, RSF fighters opened fire on hospital staff and patients, with casualties being unknown. The hospital had been in the midst of an evacuation, with 10 patients and a reduced medical crew being present at the time.
The Spin
Despite the humanitarian crisis being one of the worst in the world, the war in Sudan remains a hidden conflict. As the RSF encircles al-Fashir, the risk of a genocide against the non-Arab population in Darfur grows bigger by the day. What's worse, the world's silence has emboldened them, with the pleas of NGOs falling on deaf ears. Sudan needs an international peacekeeping force on the ground now.
Sudan has suffered from an excess of foreign intervention, not a a dearth of it. The political condition in the country was worsened by international pressure against Islamist political groups, prolonging the chaos, and even tepid support for the RSF in their fight against the government. The West has always eyed Sudan's government with suspicion, and played a role in this disaster by enabling the RSF for their own interests.
