Al-Fashir: Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) has been forced to stop delivering critical medical aid in the famine-stricken Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state due to ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a statement, MSF highlighted the dire humanitarian crisis caused by the suspension of its operations, which includes shutting down its field hospital. The decision leaves more than 500,000 displaced people without access to essential medical care, including trauma treatment and emergency surgeries.
Yahya Kalilah, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan, cited extreme security risks as the primary reason for the withdrawal, revealing that ambulances transporting patients to Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, were attacked in both December and January.
"The current security conditions make it impossible for us to continue our work,” Kalilah said, describing the halt as a painful but unavoidable decision amid the worsening crisis.
The RSF’s assault on the Zamzam camp on February 11 triggered intense fighting with the Sudanese army, forcing around 10,000 families to flee, according to the International Organization for Migration.
MSF’s hospital, initially set up to address severe malnutrition, has been overwhelmed with casualties. In the first three weeks of February alone, the facility treated 139 people with gunshot and shrapnel injuries. Tragically, 11 patients — including five children — died due to the hospital’s limited surgical capacity.
Both warring factions face accusations of targeting civilian areas and healthcare facilities, while also allegedly using starvation as a weapon of war.
Sudan’s ongoing conflict, now approaching its second year, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and sparked what aid agencies describe as the world’s worst displacement and hunger crisis. The RSF has intensified its attacks on Al Fashir following recent territorial losses to the army in central Sudan, displacing tens of thousands more civilians.
