Sudan: MSF suspends activities at Zalingei hospital after grenade attack
This forced suspension will interrupt people’s access to healthcare, including treatment for those affected by the ongoing cholera outbreak.
Amid a deadly cholera outbreak, Doctors Without Borders /Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to reduce our teams and suspend all of our activities at Zalingei hospital in Central Darfur state, Sudan, following a violent armed assault inside the facility. MSF cannot resume operations until all parties provide clear security guarantees that staff and patients will be protected.
The attack in Zalingei hospital
The assault took place at Zalingei hospital on the night of August 16, after a deceased person with a gunshot wound – reportedly from a looting incident in a nearby camp for displaced people – was brought to the emergency room around 8:20 p.m. Armed relatives of the person who died forcefully entered the hospital. Soon after, another patient with gunshot injuries arrived, also accompanied by armed individuals. Tensions between the groups accompanying the patients escalated inside the facility, and at 10 p.m., a hand grenade was detonated in front of the emergency room, killing one person. Five others were injured, including one Ministry of Health medical staff.
“One person has already lost his life in this explosion and more could have been killed if it had happened during the day, when the hospital was full of patients,” says Marwan Taher, MSF emergency coordinator in Darfur. “Suspending our activities and evacuating our teams is a decision no medical organization wants to make, but our staff cannot risk their lives while providing care.”
“Suspending our activities and evacuating our teams is a decision no medical organization wants to make, but our staff cannot risk their lives while providing care.”
Marwan Taher, MSF emergency coordinator in Darfur
Zalingei hospital is a treatment hub for cholera amid the ongoing outbreak
Since August 1, MSF had been leading a cholera emergency response at Zalingei hospital, treating 162 patients in just 16 days, in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health. Cholera has already claimed seven lives, and Zalingei hospital is the only facility equipped to treat severe cases in Central Darfur state. MSF teams also supported the State Ministry of Health with surveillance to contain the outbreak.
Beyond cholera, the hospital provided over 1,500 gynecological consultations, 1,400 pediatric consultations and 80 surgeries between May and July. As the only referral hospital serving around 500,000 people, it is the sole facility managing complex cases in the area.
MSF’s mobile clinic in Fogodiku locality and community engagement and health promotion activities has also been suspended, leaving thousands of people without essential care.
Armed attacks disrupt health care access for people in Zalingei
For more than 40 years, MSF has been on the frontlines of Sudan’s major crises, from disease outbreaks to malnutrition peaks, and we continue to support communities through the ongoing conflict.
Protecting our medical teams is essential to ensuring they can deliver care. Already in February 2024, armed men broke into Zalingei hospital and carjacked MSF rental vehicles, forcing the temporary withdrawal of our assessment team before activities even began. The August 16 assault marks the second major security incident in Zalingei hospital in the past 18 months.
“Attacks on hospitals and medical staff are unacceptable and put lives at risk,” says Taher. “The presence of guns inside a medical facility makes it impossible for our teams to operate safely. Without clear guarantees from the concerned parties for the safety of both Ministry of Health and MSF staff, we cannot continue our work. People in Zalingei urgently need healthcare, and their access to it must be protected.”
