70 people killed in attack on hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region, WHO chief says
The head of the World Health Organization called on Saturday for an end to attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Sudan after a drone attack on a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur region killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens.
“As the only functional hospital in El Fasher, the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital provides services which include gyn-obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery, and paediatrics, along with a nutrition stabilisation centre,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X after the Friday strike.
“The appalling attack on Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, led to 19 injuries and 70 deaths among patients and companions,” Ghebreyesus wrote. “At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care.”
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” Tedros added.
Darfur Governor Mini Minnawi said on X that an RSF drone had struck the emergency department of the hospital in the capital of North Darfur, killing patients, including women and children.
Fierce clashes have erupted in El Fasher between the RSF and the Sudanese joint forces, including the army, armed resistance groups, police, and local defence units.
Across the country, up to 80 percent of healthcare facilities have been forced out of service, according to official figures.
In the area around el-Fasher, famine has already taken hold in three displacement camps—Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and Al-Salam—and is expected to expand to five more areas, including the city itself by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.
