South Sudan: attacks on hospitals as violence spreads

July 03, 2014

Hospitals have been burned to the ground, and patients have been shot and killed in their beds, as violence spreads across South Sudan, the Fides news service reports.

At least 58 people have died during deliberate assaults on hospitals, according to the Doctors without Borders. The group reported six confirmed attacks on hospitals, in which life-saving equipment and supplies have been destroyed.

Since internal fighting began in the newly independent African country late last year, "the conflict has at times seen horrific levels of violence, including against health-care facilities," Doctors without Borders said.

Church leaders in South Sudan have warned that the continued fighting threatens the year's harvest, raising the possibility of famine. More than 1 million people have forced to leave their homes to escape the violence, with nearly 400,000 seeking refuge in neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sudan.

 

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Further information:

• 6 hospitals looted or burned in a few months, at least 58 people killed in the hospitals
• New fighting in South Sudan threatens widespread starvation (CWN, 6/20)