Khartoum/Paris – The latest incidence of violence involving staff from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Khartoum, Sudan, has jeopardised MSF’s continuing presence in one of the city’s hospitals.

On the afternoon of 20 July, an MSF team of 18 people were stopped by a group of armed men while transporting medical supplies to the Turkish Hospital, in the capital’s south, where we provide healthcare. 

After arguing about the reasons for MSF’s presence, the armed men aggressively assaulted our team, physically beating and whipping them, as well as detaining the driver of one of our vehicles. The armed men threatened the driver’s life before releasing him. They then stole the vehicle.

Following this horrific incident, MSF is warning that activities in the hospital are now in serious jeopardy, and we will not be able to continue to provide medical care if minimum safety guarantees are not met.

“In order to save people’s lives, the lives of our staff who are there to carry out this work must not be put at risk,” says Christophe Garnier, MSF’s emergencies manager for Sudan. “If an incident like this happens again, and if our ability to move supplies continues to be obstructed, then, regrettably, our presence in the Turkish Hospital will soon become untenable.” 

The Turkish Hospital is one of only two hospitals that remain open in the whole of southern Khartoum, both of which are supported by MSF. MSF is one of only a few international medical humanitarian organisations that are still present in the city, supporting hospitals in east Khartoum and Omdurman, in addition to south Khartoum.

MSF teams assist the Ministry of Health in keeping the fragile healthcare system afloat. Following yesterday’s incident – and the series of incidents that have preceded it – our teams are beginning to think that our ongoing support may soon no longer be possible.

This latest incident happened just 700 metres away from the Turkish Hospital, where hundreds of patients – including children – are currently receiving treatment. Only yesterday we received 44 patients who were wounded in an airstrike.

Three and a half weeks ago, we received another mass influx of war-wounded people – mainly women and children – who were injured following the escalation of fighting around the Central Reserve Police headquarters.

On a daily basis, the hospital receives around 15 war-wounded patients, carries out lifesaving surgery, and keeps patients with chronic diseases alive. Our teams work around the clock under intense conditions to treat all those who need care, yet when they leave the hospital, they are being physically assaulted and abused. 

MSF has treated over 1,600 war-wounded patients in Khartoum since the conflict began in April; our intention is to continue to provide care. However, the security situation has deteriorated so dramatically over the past few weeks that our presence in the Turkish Hospital is now in question.