The Doctors Without Borders medical charity said on Friday that armed men had attacked one of its teams in the Sudanese capital Khartoum while transporting medical supplies to a hospital.
The incident has put its continued activities at the hospital in doubt, said the organisation.
The 18-member team was attacked on Thursday while trying to reach the Turkish Hospital in the south of the city.
Khartoum has been gripped by unrest since fighting broke out on April 15 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
“After arguing about the reasons for MSF's presence, the armed men then aggressively assaulted our team, physically beating and whipping them, as well as detaining the driver of one of our vehicles,” the Geneva-based organisation said in a statement.
“The armed men threatened the driver's life before releasing him. They then stole the vehicle.”
The incident happened 700 metres from the Turkish Hospital, which, said MSF, on the same day received 44 patients wounded in an air strike.
MSF said that its activities in the hospital, one of only two still open in southern Khartoum, were now in serious jeopardy and would not be able to be continued without minimum safety guarantees.
“If an incident like this happens again, and if our ability to move supplies continues to be obstructed, then, regrettably, our presence in the Turkish Hospital will soon become untenable,” said Christophe Garnier, MSF's emergencies manager for Sudan.
On Thursday, air strikes, street battles and artillery fire shook Khartoum, witnesses told AFP, reporting three air raids in the south in the early morning.
The Sudanese army, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, has been battling the RSF, commanded by his former deputy Gen Mohamed Dagalo, after the two fell out in a power struggle.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 and forced more than 3.3 million to flee their homes.
MSF said it has treated more than 1,600 war-wounded patients in Khartoum since the conflict began.
The World Health Organisation has verified 51 attacks on healthcare centres in Sudan since the conflict began, resulting in 10 deaths and 24 injuries.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
