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Darfur hospitals receive 99 wounded in one day

Moatinoon
Four civilians died after 99 wounded people, including women and children, arrived at health facilities in North, Central, and South Darfur, Sudan, on September 10, following a series of attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In Tawila, North Darfur, more than 650 wounded people, who managed to flee the besieged city of El Fasher, have arrived at the hospital since mid-August. This number represents only a fraction of the total number of casualties. Survivors described seeing numerous bodies on the roads and having to abandon the most critically ill and wounded, who would not have survived the long journey.

“Some people walked 60 kilometers, bleeding from gunshot wounds and severe beatings, yet they are the lucky few who survived the horrors of El Fasher and the journey to escape,” says Sylvain Pénicaud, MSF project coordinator in Tawila. “They arrive exhausted, depleted, and desperate.” Marwan Tahir, MSFs country manager in Darfur, urged all warring parties to immediately spare civilians, protect medical personnel and facilities, and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access, starting with El Fasher and other besieged areas. "The humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the world cannot continue to ignore it," he added.

As Sudans war continues into its third year, people face relentless violence with no recourse. On September 10, drones struck multiple locations across Darfur, wounding hundreds of people. Even communities far from the attacks are not safe, as attacks escalate simultaneously across the region.

A Sudanese Armed Forces drone strike landed just four kilometers from Zalingei Teaching Hospital in Central Darfur, the first since February.

"From the hospital, our teams heard the drone strike," Tahir said. "Moments later, in broad daylight, we had to activate our mass casualty plan as an influx of war-wounded arrived, including six women and four children. No one is safe.

On the same day, two drones bombed the city of Nyala, South Darfur. Nyala Teaching Hospital received 12 patients; four of them, including a child, died upon arrival. This was the eighth deadly drone strike on the city in just 11 days, following attacks on August 30 and September 1 and 3, when the hospital treated 44 war-wounded patients.

These simultaneous attacks came just one day after airstrikes by the Rapid Support Forces on Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, on September 9, which injured two people with shrapnel who arrived at Al-Naw Hospital in Omdurman. The same airstrikes also destroyed a power station, cutting off power to parts of the city and forcing Al-Naw and Al-Block Childrens Hospitals to rely on generators or unreliable electricity sources. Without stable electricity, life-saving medical equipment and air conditioning fail, putting premature and critically ill babies at risk of overheating, infection, and equipment malfunction.