Medical group accuses RSF of displacing 3,000 in Sudan’s Blue Nile

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL

A Sudanese doctors’ network on Wednesday accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of displacing about 3,000 people and destroying a hospital in Blue Nile state in southeastern Sudan.

The Sudan Doctors Network, an independent medical group, said RSF fighters swept into the town of Al-Kurmuk after heavy clashes, looting health facilities and destroying the town’s main hospital.

In a statement, the group said medical equipment and supplies were stolen and that health workers were assaulted during the raid, leaving one staff member critically injured.

The network said the violence forced more than 3,000 residents, including women and children, to flee Al-Kurmuk toward the state capital Ad-Damazin and nearby areas across the border in Ethiopia.

It blamed RSF commanders for what it described as systematic destruction and looting, while the paramilitary force did not immediately respond to the accusations.

Separately, Blue Nile Governor Ahmed Al-Omda Badi said the situation in the state remains stable, including in border areas with Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) quoted Badi as saying that developments are expected soon that could pave the way for residents to return to their homes.

On Monday, Sudanese authorities said the army had repelled attacks by RSF fighters and their allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on Al-Kurmuk and nearby areas south of the town.

Since April 2023, the Sudanese army and RSF have been engaged in a conflict over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military. The fighting has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with tens of thousands killed and nearly 13 million people displaced.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref