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Illustration of fightings in Khartoum, Sudan

Conflict in Sudan

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On 15 April 2023, intense fighting broke out between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and across most of Sudan. Since then, the fighting has killed and injured thousands of people.

Large parts of Sudan have experienced ongoing violence, including intense urban warfare, gunfire, shelling and airstrikes. Our teams report that hospitals are overwhelmed, and in some areas, people are unable or too afraid to get to health facilities because the fighting is too intense and/or the facilities have been damaged in the fighting. Many people are cut off from medical care at a time when they need it most. 

People are fleeing to safer areas, as they face food and water shortages, forcing them to move to try to meet their basic needs. People are also facing difficulties accessing medical care as the healthcare system is collapsing, with many hospitals facing shortages in supplies and staff.

In response to the lack of fuel and medical supplies, our teams have managed to make donations to hospitals in several states including Khartoum, Al-Jazeera, North and Central Darfour and Red Sea states. 

We call on parties of the conflict to ensure humanitarian access and to allow us to assist the Sudanese people. Ahmed Abd-elrahman, MSF director of operations in Brussels

We are currently working in 10 states: Khartoum, Al-Jazeera, West Darfur, North Darfur, Central Darfur, South Darfur, Al-Gedaref, Blue Nile, White Nile and River Nile. Our teams have started new activities in some of these locations, including emergency and surgical care in Khartoum, mobile clinics and relief item distributions in Wad Madani, and water and sanitation activities in Port Sudan. 

We have shifted some of our activities to meet the emergency needs, including in El Fasher hospital, where we have treated over 1,000 war-wounded patients. We also carry out emergency obstetric surgery, as well as normal deliveries, and are now supporting the paediatric hospital in El Fasher. 

MSF’s surgical activities in Bashair Teaching Hospital in south Khartoum are ongoing. In July, the emergency room received 1,073 patients. More than 60 per cent of them had experienced violent trauma, such as gunshot wounds or injuries caused by explosions.  

We also have surgical and medical teams working in the Turkish Hospital in Khartoum. In total, our teams treated 3,855 patients in this hospital from mid-June to the end of July.

We have been forced to suspend some activities due to violence and insecurity in some other parts of the country. This includes our activities in Niyala in South Darfur, and the MSF-supported El Geneina Teaching Hospital in West Darfur, which were subject to looting.

More than 380,000 refugees have crossed into eastern Chad, seeking refuge in camps and settlements located in the border town of Adre. Our teams there are witnessing the distressing living conditions faced by people, with a severe shortage of food, water, sanitation, shelter, and healthcare.  

We provide surgical care for the war wounded, support the paediatric and nutrition wards and health centres around Adre, and provide assistance to refugees in camps in Chad through mobile clinics.   

We are delivering critical healthcare services in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Adre hospital where the bed capacity has been expanded to 420 beds. Additionally, a 38-bed clinic situated in Camp Ecole is conducting 460 consultations daily. The region is grappling with a high prevalence of malaria and diarrhoeal diseases, while 372 children are undergoing treatment for malnutrition.   

Since the eruption of conflict, over 200,000 people had been registered crossing to South Sudan up until the first week of August. Over 90 per cent of them are South Sudanese, arriving exhausted and extremely vulnerable. 

In South Sudan, we have launched emergency responses in Upper Nile and Northern Bahr El Ghazal states, running three mobile clinics in Renk and one in Aweil, offering basic healthcare services. 

In view of the alarming influx of measles patients coming from the conflict in Sudan, we have set up isolation wards in Renk, Bentiu and Twic County. To prevent measles from taking more lives, there must be an urgent scale up of food support and vaccinations to immunise everyone. 

 

 
Kalma Camp, Darfur
Conflict in Sudan

Surgical supply ban in Khartoum must be immediately reversed

Press Release 14 Nov 2023
 
First patient admitted as the influx of refugees from Sudan increased after intensified fighting in El Geneina
Chad

More people forced to flee Sudan to Chad as fighting intensifies across Darfur

Press Release 7 Nov 2023
 
Emergency Surgical Team at Bashair Hospital Khartoum, Sudan
Conflict in Sudan

MSF suspends surgery in Khartoum hospital as supplies remain blocked

Press Release 19 Oct 2023
 
El Fasher: 2 weeks since the beginning of the clashes
Conflict in Sudan

Six months of war and neglect in Sudan is a “catastrophic failure of humanity”

Press Release 12 Oct 2023
 
Hepatitis E cases in Al-Tanideba, Sudan
Conflict in Sudan

MSF-supported Al Nao hospital in Omdurman hit by shelling

Statement 10 Oct 2023
 
People in line at a water point in Transit Centre in Renk
South Sudan

Aid woefully inadequate for returnees stuck in deplorable conditions in Renk

Press Release 3 Oct 2023
 
MSF supporting the measles vaccination campaign by the Ministry of Health in the Um Sangour camp, White Nile state, Sudan
Conflict in Sudan

Overwhelming needs in White Nile as conflict pushes people to limit

Voices from the Field 28 Sep 2023
 
Umdawanban hospital OCG
Sudan

Catastrophic health crisis in Sudan demands more action

Statement 21 Sep 2023
 
Hepatitis E cases in Al-Tanideba, Sudan
Conflict in Sudan

Forty-nine people killed in Khartoum’s deadliest weekend since conflict began

Press Release 12 Sep 2023
 
MSF Clinical Officer examines a child at the MSF Mobile Clinic
South Sudan

Sudan returnees arrive back in South Sudan in alarming health

Press Release 31 Aug 2023
 
MSF clinic in camp Ecole in Adré, Chad
Chad

MSF appeals for immediate response to Sudanese refugee crisis in Chad

Press Release 31 Aug 2023
 
Hepatitis E cases in Al-Tanideba, Sudan
Conflict in Sudan

People trapped by indiscriminate attacks in Nyala, South Darfur

Statement 24 Aug 2023