Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) condemned a violent attack on a hospital in Drodro, Ituri province, that left one patient dead and the facility inoperable.
The attack, which occurred overnight on March 6th, is the latest incident in a surge of violence that has displaced thousands of civilians.
The armed assault on Drodro General Hospital resulted in the death of an elderly patient and the ransacking and looting of medical equipment by unidentified attackers.
This violence has forced MSF to temporarily evacuate its staff from the town, leaving the community without access to critical medical care.
“What has happened here is nothing short of horrifying,” said Stephanie Giandonato, MSF’s program manager for the DRC. “We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms.”
The violence has triggered a mass exodus from Drodro, with thousands fleeing to the already overcrowded Rho camp for displaced people.
Designed to accommodate a maximum of 30,000 people, the camp now shelters more than double that number.
MSF is currently providing basic healthcare, stabilization care, and other essential services at the camp, but warns that these efforts are “not sustainable” in the long term.
“The growing insecurity has effectively cut off the region, disrupting supplies of food and water to the overwhelmed Rho camp,” said Boubacar Mballo, MSF’s project coordinator in Drodro.
With medical facilities non-functional and essential supplies dwindling, MSF urges all warring factions to respect international law and protect civilians and medical facilities “under all circumstances.”
