Sudan: Violent attacks lead to suspension of MSF activities at key Khartoum hospital

“The suffering we witness in Khartoum is enormous,” said Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator. “Intense and extreme violence continues daily. Shortages and blockages of food, supplies, and humanitarian aid leave people scrambling to survive. The medical needs are overwhelming. Injuries are often horrific. Mass casualty incidents have become almost routine. Our team, hospital staff, and volunteers have worked tirelessly in very difficult conditions to provide medical care. But without the security to operate safely, it has become untenable to continue as the lives of our staff and patients are threatened.” 

Fewer and fewer health care options in south Khartoum

Bashair Teaching Hospital is one of the last functioning hospitals in south Khartoum offering free medical care. Since the end of September, the hospital has seen a surge in cases of people with violent trauma injuries as fighting has escalated. At times, dozens of people have arrived at the hospital en masse after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets. On Sunday, January 5, 2025, 50 people were brought to the emergency room—12 of them already dead—after an airstrike less than one mile from the hospital. 

At the same time, our teams have seen an increase in pediatric and maternity patients as other health facilities have shuttered or reduced services. We have also been responding to cholera, malaria, and dengue outbreaks, and are seeing very worrying levels of malnutrition.

The hospital has already faced serious difficulties. In October 2023, all surgeries were temporarily suspended after surgical supplies were blocked by the Sudanese Armed Forces. The transport of medical supplies and staff movements from Port Sudan have now been blocked for more than a year. MSF had to suspend medical activities at the nearby Turkish Hospital in July last year as a result of threats to and violence against staff. 

“It is devastating to have to stop supporting lifesaving medical care at this hospital, particularly in the face of such great and growing medical needs,” said San Filippo. “Every time an organization is forced to suspend activities, patients have less access to medical care they desperately need. Hospitals must be places where people can seek health care without risking their lives and where medical professionals can safely deliver care.”

MSF in Bashair Teaching Hospital

An MSF team first joined volunteers and medical staff who had reopened the hospital in May 2023, shortly after the start of the war in Sudan. Between May 2023 and December 2024, the hospital treated 25,585 patients in the emergency room, more than 9,000 due to violence, such as blast and gunshot wounds. During the same period, the team performed 3,700 surgical procedures—the vast majority violence-related injuries—and assisted in almost 3,800 deliveries, including 850 cesarean sections. MSF continues to work in 11 states in Sudan, including the city of Omdurman in Khartoum state. We hope that conditions will allow us to return to Bashair Teaching Hospital in the future and restart medical activities.