- Several patients, two nurses, a doctor among the dead.
- 89 people, including eight healthcare workers, injured.
- The attack damaged the hospital’s pediatric, maternity and emergency departments.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that a strike on a hospital in East Darfur, Sudan, killed at least 64 people, including children, medical staff and patients, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
The WHO said Friday’s attack on Al Deain University Hospital rendered the facility non-functional, cutting off essential medical servicesin the city.
In a social media post, Ghebreyesus said several patients, two nurses and a doctor were also among those killed in the attack on Al Deain University Hospital in Al Deain, the capital of East Darfur state, on Friday evening.
Another 89 people, including eight health workers, were injured, he added.
The attack damaged the hospital’s pediatric, maternity and emergency departments, rendering the facility non-functional and cutting off “essential” medical services in the city.
“As a result of this tragedy, the total number of deaths linked to attacks on health facilities during Sudan’s war has now exceeded 2,000,” Tedros said, adding that during nearly three years of conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the WHO had confirmed the deaths of 2,036 people in 213 attacks on health care.
There was no immediate information on who was behind the attack.
The war between the army and the RSF erupted in mid-April 2023, triggering a wave of violence that led to one of the world’s most dynamic man-made humanitarian crises, with tens of thousands of people killed and more than 12 million forced from their homes.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the RSF has been implicated in atrocities in Darfur that UN experts say bear the hallmarks of genocide.
“Enough blood has been shed. Enough suffering has been inflicted,” Tedros said. “Now is the time to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers and humanitarian workers. »
