35 children among those killed in latest Sudan civil war carnage, U.N. says
CBSJun 22
Sudan: Main Hospital in Darfur City Shuttered After RSF Attack
Above: Children are screened for signs of malnutrition inside the Médecins Sans Frontières, (MSF) clinic at the refugee transit camp on April 25, 2024 in Adre, Chad. Image copyright: Dan Kitwood/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that the hospital in al-Fashir, Sudan, a city of 1.8M in the northwestern region of Darfur, has been closed after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked and looted the building.
MSF says RSF fighters opened fire on the hospital staff and patients on Sunday, with casualties yet to be determined. 10 patients and a downsized medical crew were present at the time, with most patients being transferred to other facilities.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Despite the humanitarian crisis being one of the worst in the world, the war in Sudan remains a hidden conflict. As the RSF encircles al-Fashir, the risk of genocide against the non-Arab population in Darfur grows bigger by the day. What's worse, the world's silence has emboldened them, with the pleas of NGOs falling on deaf ears. Sudan needs an international peacekeeping force on the ground now.
Establishment-critical narrative
Sudan has suffered from an excess of foreign intervention, not a dearth of it. The political condition in the country was worsened by international pressure against Islamist political groups and even tepid support for the RSF in their fight against the government. Several years ago, the West tried to push a political transition onto the country without accounting for its cultural differences — resulting in the predictable conflict we now see between pro- and anti-Western factions.