Violent attacks on communities, medical facilities looted and healthcare workers killed in Kreneik and El Geneina
Bakri Abubakr, MSF Operations Manager for Sudan
¨The violent attacks started in Kreneik over the weekend. Our teams received confirmation that the hospital that we support was attacked. Three people, including two medical workers were killed. The hospital´s pharmacy was also looted. MSF teams were not present at the facility at the time, having returned to our permanent base in El Geneina on the 19th of April.
¨Yesterday, El Geneina Teaching Hospital, in West Darfur's capital city, experienced a violent intrusion, with shooting taking place inside the facility, including the emergency room. MSF staff were working in the hospital with the hospital staff. Health workers, including those from MSF, were evacuated
“We are shocked by these attacks and send our sincere condolences to the families of those who have been killed. We condemn these deadly intrusions in the strongest possible terms. In conflict, medical structures and staff are protected – this has to be respected by all parties to any conflict at all times.
“As a result of the ongoing violence and insecurity in the different parts of West Darfur, including these deadly attacks on two hospitals, MSF teams have not been able to reach the health facilities we support or conduct mobile clinic activities in El Geneina and Kreneik. We are incredibly worried about the impact this will have on people, who have faced waves of violence, preventing them from seeking the medical care they need, and leaving them in dire need of assistance even prior to this attack.
“Our teams are closely following the security situation to ensure that we can start working to provide much needed medical care and humanitarian assistance as soon as it is safe to do so."
NOTES
MSF has different projects in West Darfur state. We provide humanitarian assistance and primary healthcare services to both the internally displaced and local communities through fixed and mobile clinics in and around EL Geneina city. We also support El Geneina Teaching Hospital and have recently started supporting the internally displaced and host communities in the Kreneik locality through mobile clinics and by supporting the main healthcare facility in Kreneik town.MSF is working in Sudan since 1978. In recent years our operations are focusing in Khartoum, Gedaref, Blue Nile, Kassala, East Darfur, West Darfur, South and Central Darfur states, with emergency teams launching interventions in other areas as needed.