A group of ten armed men stormed the headquarters of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, a French charity that provides humanitarian medical care, in Zalingei town in Sudan’s Central Darfur State and robbed two cars and phones over the weekend.
Mohammad Amin, the head of the services department of the Central Darfur State Steering Committee, said that the ten gunmen raided the organization’s offices located west of Zalingei Hospital at approximately 2:00 a.m. on Friday and made off with the two Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles and phones belonging to MSF foreign staff.
“While we do not rule out the involvement of some people in the region, we have confirmed that the state’s management committee in coordination with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has taken extra security measures and that the suspects are being pursued,” he said and added: “We deeply regret what happened.”
According to an activist with the Zalingei People’s Initiative, the gunmen took advantage of the area’s sparse population.
“That area was almost empty of residents because they have been staying inside the hospital,” he explained. “The armed group threatened the MSF staff with weapons and took two cars and mobile phones. The MSF staff were not exposed to physical or other attacks.”
The activist pointed out that the theft of the MSF equipment was calculated and would have dire repercussions on the citizens and the state if the organization pulled out and called on the authorities to secure the state.
MSF officials confirmed the incident but declined to comment until investigations are completed.