ISTANBUL

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Tuesday that it had closed a hospital in the frontier town of Tine in eastern Chad due to attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Sudanese side of the border.

Tine is divided between two countries: one part lies in Sudan’s North Darfur state in the country’s far west, while the other is located in Chad’s Wadi Fira province. A small seasonal valley known as “Ab Sun” separates the Sudanese and Chadian sides.

For the past two days, Sudanese army forces and the RSF have clashed in and around Tine in western Sudan, as the paramilitary group attempts to enter the town and consolidate control over North Darfur.

MSF said in a post on US social media company Facebook that it received reports of heavy RSF attacks on Sudanese Tine near the Chadian border on Saturday and Sunday, prompting it to close a hospital on the Chadian side of the border and transfer its activities to a new, unused hospital building.

The organization said it reduced its staff in Chadian Tine after security conditions deteriorated, noting that residents along the border have faced repeated attacks and displacement.

The group called for protecting health workers and patients “at any cost.”

On Monday, Chad announced the closure of its border with Sudan “until further notice,” citing what it described as repeated incursions and violations by warring Sudanese forces inside Chadian territory.

The announcement came two days after the Sudanese army and allied joint forces in Darfur repelled an RSF attack on Tine.

Last month, Chad’s government condemned an RSF attack inside its territory that killed seven soldiers and wounded others, calling it an “unacceptable aggression and a clear, serious and repeated violation” of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The RSF acknowledged crossing into Chad and clashing with its forces but described the incident as unintentional and a mistake.

The RSF controls four of Darfur’s five states in western Sudan, with parts of North Darfur still under army control. The military retains influence over most of the country’s remaining states, including the capital, Khartoum.

Darfur makes up about one-fifth of Sudan’s territory, which spans more than 1.8 million square kilometers, while most of the country’s roughly 50 million people live in areas controlled by the army.

Since April 2023, the RSF and the Sudanese army have fought over a dispute related to integrating the paramilitary force into the military. The conflict has triggered famine conditions in what is considered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.

*Writing by Lina Altawell