
Medical charity MSF has warned its work in South Sudan is being jeopardised as a result of "brutal" attacks on medical facilities in which patients and its hospital staff have also been targeted.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been effectively denied lifesaving assistance, MSF says in a new report.[1]
Fighting between the government and rebels since mid-December has displaced about 860,000 people, the UN says.
The sides have accused each other of violating a January ceasefire.
"As entire towns in South Sudan suffer devastating attacks, medical care has also come under fire, with patients shot in their beds, wards burned to the ground, medical equipment looted and, in one case, an entire hospital destroyed," the MSF report released on Wednesday says.



MSF mission head Raphael Gorgeu said hospitals are "now targets of attack and brutality" rather than "safe havens for treatment".
He said: "Assaults on medical facilities and patients are part of a broader backdrop of brutal attacks on towns, markets and public facilities.
"These attacks show a complete lack of respect for medical care and deprive the most vulnerable of lifesaving assistance just when they need it most."
The report lists numerous recent "gruesome attacks", including:
- Patients murdered in their beds in the town of Malakal, Upper Nile state
- A hospital in Leer, Unity state, was "thoroughly looted, burned and vandalised"
- The MSF compound in Bentiu, capital of Unity state, was looted amid heavy fighting
On 22 February, MSF teams discovered at least 14 bodies at the Malakal teaching hospital compound, scattered among 50 to 75 patients who remained in the facility, too weak or elderly to flee for safety.
"Several patients showed signs they had been shot dead while lying in their beds," it said.
"Many of the hospital wards, including the therapeutic feeding centre for malnourished children, had been burned, and general looting had clearly taken place throughout the hospital."
Malakal, a dusty market town that serves as the gateway to the oilfields of the Upper Nile region, has been at the centre of clashes and has repeatedly changed hands.
Local MSF emergency co-ordinator Carlos Francisco said he can "find no words to describe the brutality in Malakal, which has left in its wake a ransacked city and a thoroughly traumatised people".
Last month the army said that it had recaptured the town after days of heavy fighting.
What started as a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar escalated into full-scale conflict, with some of the fighting along ethnic lines.
Although both men have supporters from across South Sudan's ethnic divides, fighting has often been communal, with rebels targeting members of Mr Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and government soldiers attacking Nuers, Mr Machar's people.
MSF has 333 international staff working in its projects alongside 3,330 South Sudanese staff.
Continue reading the main story[2]






and
References
- ^ MSF report (www.msf.org.uk)
- ^ Continue reading the main story (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ Continue reading the main story (www.bbc.co.uk)

Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26357138
Newer articles:
- South Sudan government troops, rebels may have committed war crimes: HRW - 27/02/2014 14:31
- South Sudan president sacks Upper Nile oil minister - 27/02/2014 08:31
- Neighbour against neighbour: the grim reality of S.Sudan's conflict - 27/02/2014 06:43
- south-sudan-unmiss-reuters-270214.JPG - 27/02/2014 02:32
- South Sudan Recalls Top Envoys Amid Conflict - 26/02/2014 20:47
Older news items
- South Sudan violence targets hospitals - 26/02/2014 13:29
- South Sudan: Fear Persists Among South Sudan's Displaced - 26/02/2014 11:49
- South Sudan: Patients shot dead in hospital beds - 26/02/2014 11:29
- South Sudan violence targeting healthcare says MSF - 26/02/2014 10:08
- South Sudan conflict deteriorating, Kenya warns - 25/02/2014 20:45
Latest news items (all categories):
- The Collo Kingdom Remains Underdeveloped: Five Hundred Years Later! - 03/02/2025 12:57
- Attack on South Sudan cattle camps kills 35 - 03/02/2025 12:46
- في صفقة مثيرة.. الإمارات تشتري نفط الجنوب في باطن الأرض لمدة 20 عامًا - 03/02/2025 12:42
- South Sudan: Can oil production save the economy? - 30/01/2025 19:27
- 20 oil workers and crew die in South Sudan plane crash - 30/01/2025 19:20
Random articles (all categories):
- Reclaiming Original Territories of South Sudan is Creed not Politics - 18/04/2012 23:23
- IGAD is unfit to mediate in the South Sudan’s conflict - 13/09/2014 14:21
- Banks explore opportunities in virgin market - 08/06/2009 10:24
- 3 killed, 3 injured in Tonj East cattle raids - 28/03/2022 04:50
- Education in South Sudan - 18/03/2018 00:26
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 68164 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22363 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21559 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 19226 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19201 times