Sudan: Hospital strike highlights surge in drone attacks on civilians

© UNICEF/Mohammed Jamal Aid is distributed in Zamzam camp in Tawila, North Darfur to people who fled their homes due to violence. Facebook Twitter Print Email The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday. The Teaching Hospital in East Darfur’s capital, Al Deain, was struck late Friday, a new low in the brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in April 2023. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people killed has risen to 70, including seven women and 13 children, following search efforts. Health workers - one doctor and two nurses - were also among those killed, while injuries have increased to 146 people, including patients and family members accompanying them. The Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday strongly condemned the killings calling on the rival military leaderships “to immediately de-escalate the fighting and agree on a cessation of hostilities.” He renewed his appeal for the warring parties to work with mediators, including his Personal Envoy for Sudan, “to return to the negotiating table to pursue a lasting ceasefire and a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process.” Since the start of the conflict, the total number of fatalities linked to attacks on health facilities has surpassed 2,000 according to WHO. “An attack on a hospital is not only an attack on a building, it's an attack on people seeking care, on health workers risking their lives to save others, and on the very possibility of survival at times of crisis,” said WHO Deputy Representative to Sudan, Dr Hala Khudari. “Sudan is approaching its third year of armed conflict, but the attacks on healthcare continue,” she deplored, stressing that health facilities, ambulances, health workers and patients have been “repeatedly targeted”. The attack on the teaching hospital has effectively closed it and patients “may have to travel over 160 kilometers to reach the next referral hospital, which for patients requiring specialized services, is very difficult”, the UN health agency official said. She stressed that Al Deain served as a referral hospital for over two million people in the city as well as nine other localities in the East Darfur state. Asked who was responsible for the Al Deain attack, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Marta Hurtado said that while the perpetrators have not been identified, both parties to the conflict use drones extensively. “Our call is for both parties to stop immediately using this type of weaponry,” she said. Ms. Hurtado warned of a surge in the use of drones to conduct airstrikes this year in Sudan, which “underlines the devastating impact of high tech and relatively cheap weapons in populated areas”.