64 Dead, Including 13 Children, in Brutal Strike on Sudan Hospital – WHO

By Tgnews Reporter

In a devastating escalation of Sudan’s nearly three-year civil war, an attack on El-Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur’s capital has claimed at least 64 lives, including 13 children, two female nurses, one male doctor, and numerous patients, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Saturday.

The strike, which occurred on Friday night, also wounded 89 people, among them eight health workers, severely damaging the facility’s pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments. The hospital is now completely non-functional, leaving essential medical services interrupted in a region already crippled by conflict.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the assault in a strongly worded statement, declaring: “Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted. The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers, and humanitarians.”

Rights groups, including the Sudanese Emergency Lawyers, attributed the attack to a drone strike by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), targeting the city of El-Daein, which remains under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Sudanese army has repeatedly struck the RSF-held area in efforts to dislodge the paramilitaries from Darfur and push them away from central corridors.

The army, via the official SUNA news agency, denied targeting civilian infrastructure, insisting it adheres to international norms and accusing the RSF of routinely attacking health facilities.

This incident pushes the total fatalities from attacks on healthcare in Sudan’s war past 2,000, according to WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA).

The system has verified 213 such attacks overall, with 2,036 deaths recorded. Notably, attacks have grown deadlier: 2023 saw 64 attacks and 38 deaths; 2024 recorded 72 attacks and 200 deaths; while 2025 alone accounted for 65 attacks and 1,620 deaths—representing 82% of global healthcare attack fatalities that year.

Friday’s assault involved heavy weapons violence, affecting not only people but also medical supplies and storage. Tedros highlighted the broader implications: “Beyond the devastating human toll, attacks on health care have immediate and long-term consequences for communities already in desperate need of both emergency and routine medical services. Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine.”

The United Nations humanitarian office expressed being “appalled” by the strike, joining repeated condemnations as hospitals continue to be targeted in the conflict that erupted in April 2023 between the SAF and RSF.

The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 11 million people, and triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises, with more than 33 million in need of aid. Near-daily drone strikes, particularly in southern Kordofan and Darfur, have become a grim hallmark, often killing dozens of civilians in populated areas.

The WHO is mobilizing support for local partners, scaling up capacity at alternative facilities, and deploying trauma kits and essential medicines to address urgent gaps.

As Tedros urged: “The time has come to de-escalate.” Yet, with no ceasefire in sight, civilians in Sudan continue to bear the unbearable cost of unrelenting violence.

AFP