Over 40, including children, killed in Sudan hospital attack: WHO
3 Min Read
An attack on Al Mujlad Hospital in West Kordofan, Sudan, prompts the WHO's condemnation.
-
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, delivers his speech after inaugurating the WHO Academy campus, which promotes lifelong learning across the health sector, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 (AP)
More than 40 people, including children and healthcare workers, were killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan over the weekend, according to a statement made on Tuesday by the head of the World Health Organization.
The attack on Al Mujlad Hospital occurred on Saturday in West Kordofan, close to the frontline where the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been engaged in conflict since April 2023.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus demanded an end to attacks on health infrastructure without attributing responsibility for this specific incident. Meanwhile, the WHO Sudan office confirmed that six children and five medical workers were among those killed in the assault, which also caused severe damage to the hospital facility.
The human rights group Emergency Lawyers alleged that an army drone had carried out Saturday's hospital strike while revising their initial death toll estimate downward to nine in a subsequent Sunday statement.
This comes almost a month after the Rapid Support Forces launched attacks in North Kordofan, shelling hospitals and residential areas.
RSF attacks kill civilians, closes Sudan hospitals
A Sudanese military source stated that on May 31, Rapid Support Forces shelled two hospitals and residential neighborhoods in El Obeid, North Kordofan, leaving six people dead and others wounded.
Following the shelling that struck Al-Daman Hospital, its administration declared a suspension of operations "until further notice" as medical teams simultaneously work to control a cholera outbreak spreading through Sudan's capital, Khartoum
Expressing profound alarm over the attack, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the urgent protection of all medical workers and infrastructure alongside his demand for an immediate halt to all health facility assaults
Territorial clash
The conflict between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, which erupted in April 2023, has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands and forced 13 million people to flee their homes.
The United Nations has described the conflict as the world's largest crisis in terms of both hunger and displacement.
As the fighting drags on, Sudan has effectively become divided. The military controls much of the country's center, north, and east, while RSF forces dominate Darfur and several areas in the south.
Following the loss of Khartoum in March, the RSF has relied on a combination of drone strikes and offensives in the southern regions to regain lost ground.
On May 29, the paramilitary group also claimed to have recaptured Dibeibat, a town in South Kordofan about 100 kilometers south of El-Obeid. Like Al-Khoei, the army had taken it back earlier this month.
Parts of South Kordofan are controlled by a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which has aligned itself with the RSF
