Sudanese attend a protest in support of the army in the eastern city of Gedaref on February 22, 2025. Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a war between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. (Photo by AFP)
International medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Monday it was forced to suspend operations in and around the famine-hit Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur due to escalating violence.
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified this month in the camp, which the United Nations says shelters more than half a million people.
“Despite widespread starvation and immense humanitarian needs, we have no choice but to take the decision to suspend all our activities in the camp, including the MSF field hospital,” the charity said, using its French acronym.
The RSF stormed Zamzam on February 11, triggering two days of clashes with the army and allied militias and forcing about 10,000 families to flee, said the International Organization for Migration.
MSF’s facility, established to tackle a severe malnutrition crisis, received 139 wounded patients in the first three weeks of February — most with gunshot and shrapnel injuries.
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“Halting our project in the midst of a worsening disaster in Zamzam is a heartbreaking decision,” Yahya Kalilah, MSF head of mission in Sudan, said in a statement.
“The most minimal security conditions are currently not met for us to stay,” he added.
Eleven patients, including five children, died at the facility as it lacks trauma surgery capacity.
Transferring patients to El-Fasher’s Saudi Hospital — the only local facility capable of such procedures — has become increasingly dangerous after previous attacks on MSF ambulances.
Both warring sides have been accused of indiscriminately shelling health facilities and residential areas and using hunger as a weapon of war.
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The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed tens of thousands and triggered what aid agencies describe as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
El-Fasher, which is the only state capital in Darfur still under army control, has been under RSF siege since May.
The RSF holds sway over much of western and southern Sudan while the army has consolidated its grip on the east and north.
In recent weeks, the RSF has stepped up its attacks on El-Fasher after the army made key gains in a multi-front offensive on the capital and central Sudan.
RSF attacks on the city have been repelled by the army-aligned Joint Forces, but tens of thousands have been forced to flee.
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Famine was first declared in Zamzam in August and has since spread to two more displacement camps near El-Fasher.
It is expected to expand to five more areas, including El-Fasher itself, by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.
Before the latest violence, around 1.7 million were displaced in North Darfur alone, with two million civilians facing extreme food insecurity, the United Nations says.
Established in 2004, Zamzam has received waves of displaced Sudanese during the current war.
– By: © Agence France-Presse
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