Civilians killed as Sudan’s civil war spills into Chad: MSF

Sudanese refugees gather outside a field hospital in Acre, Chad, Aug. 15, 2023. (AP Photo, File )

GABON - Drones strikes by the parties to Sudan’s civil war were killing and wounding civilians in the border region with neighbouring Chad, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) said on Thursday.

The attacks “are endangering both aid workers and civilians, including many refugees fleeing the war in Sudan,” MSF, Doctors Without Borders said.

Chad closed its border with Sudan in February after cross-border incursions into its territory by paramilitaries from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It has been hit by at least two drone attacks since then.

The RSF and the Sudanese army have blamed each other for the strikes.

The civil war in Sudan between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people since April 2023 and displaced more than 12 million people, nearly one million of whom have fled to Chad, according to the UN.

“The current insecurity makes it unsustainable for MSF to provide even a minimum of medical support to people seeking protection in Chad,” said Rita Magano, MSF medical project coordinator in the border town of Tine.

She said MSF had responded to 13 mass casualty incidents in the past two months, treating 457 people. 38 people died as a result of their wounds after attacks at the border.

Most Sudanese refugees in Chad are Black Africans from the Darfur region across the border, which has been almost entirely under the control of the RSF and allied Arab militias since they captured its main city, El-Fasher, in October.

MSF said civilians in Darfur “experienced extreme levels of violence, including ethnic targeting of non-Arab communities, bombardment and large-scale executions”.

Paramilitary forces captured the Sudanese town of Tina, right next to Tine in Chad, on Feb. 21.

In addition to recurring attacks, Tine is facing a measles outbreak.