Khartoum, June 26: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday condemned an attack on a hospital in Sudan’s West Kordofan region that killed more than 40 civilians, including children and health workers, as the country’s brutal civil war continues to escalate.
The strike on al-Mujlad Hospital, located near the frontline between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), occurred on Saturday, according to WHO and local humanitarian sources. WHO said six children and five health workers were among the dead, with dozens more injured.
“We cannot say this louder: attacks on health must stop everywhere!” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on social media platform X. The RSF blamed the Sudanese armed forces, alleging in a statement that the attack violated international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which prohibit targeting health facilities.
News outlet Darfur 24, citing local emergency response groups, reported that the attack was an airstrike by a Sudanese military aircraft, while Emergency Lawyers, a group documenting war crimes, said the hospital was hit by a military drone.
A spokesperson for the Sudanese military, Nabil Abdallah, denied the allegations. “The armed forces do not violate international law and do not target civilians. We strike only militia sites being used for military purposes,” he said, calling the accusations “propaganda.”
The UN children’s agency UNICEF also condemned the incident. “The attacks do not only kill and injure but also severely impede communities’ access to life-saving services,” it said, urging all parties to respect international law.
Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and RSF erupted into open conflict. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 12 million, and left more than 20 million in need of food aid. Parts of the country are already experiencing famine conditions.
Earlier this year, 70 people were killed in an attack on El Fasher’s only operational hospital, an incident attributed to RSF forces. In March, the Sudanese military recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum, while the RSF tightened its grip on Darfur, a region where its precursor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide in 2004.
A UN aid convoy was also attacked earlier this month while trying to deliver supplies to El Fasher, which has been under RSF siege for over a year, leaving five dead.
