Health facilities supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) across North, Central, and South Darfur in Sudan received 99 wounded patients on Sept. 10 following a wave of attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the aid group said Thursday.
Four patients were declared dead on arrival, MSF said in a statement.
“We urge all warring parties to immediately spare civilians, protect medical staff and facilities, and guarantee safe, unhindered access for humanitarian aid, starting in El Fasher and other besieged areas,” said Marwan Taher, MSF head of mission in Darfur.
Taher warned the humanitarian crisis is spiraling out of control. “The world cannot continue to look away,” he said.
In Tawila, North Darfur, MSF staff treated 50 wounded patients on Tuesday alone, according to the group. The patients were among more than 650 people who had fled El Fasher since mid-August. Tawila is located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the besieged city.
Many of the injured endured a days-long journey on foot, MSF said, with some arriving with gunshot wounds and signs of severe beatings.
“Some people have walked 60 kilometers on foot, bleeding from gunshot wounds and severe whippings, yet they are the fortunate few who survived the horrors of El Fasher and the journey to escape it,” said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF’s project coordinator in Tawila.
El Fasher has been under siege and bombardment by RSF forces and their allies for more than a year, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped with little access to food, water, medical care or humanitarian aid, MSF said. Many who fled described witnessing widespread killings and having to leave behind critically wounded people who could not survive the escape.
The town of Tawila now hosts an estimated 800,000 internally displaced people, according to MSF.
On Sept. 10, drone strikes hit multiple locations across Darfur, wounding scores. In Central Darfur, a drone strike landed just 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the MSF-supported Zalingei Teaching Hospital—the first such strike near the area since February.
In Nyala, South Darfur, two SAF drones struck the city the same day, MSF said. Nyala Teaching Hospital, also supported by MSF, received 12 patients. Four, including a child, were dead on arrival. MSF said this marked the eighth deadly drone strike in Nyala in 11 days, following attacks on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 and 3, which left at least 44 people wounded.
Sudan’s war, now in its second year, continues to devastate the region, with civilians bearing the brunt of escalating violence. Health facilities across Darfur are under growing strain, facing severe shortages of supplies and staff while remaining under threat of attack.