In an attack on the only functional hospital in the city of El Fasher in Sudan, 70 people lost their lives, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief claimed on Sunday. The attack is being seen as a part of the series of attacks amid the escalation of civil war in the African nation. The local officials have blamed the rebel Rapid Support Forces for the attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital.
The attack on the hospital is being linked to the group's recent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan.
Despite international mediation attempts and pressure tactics, which also include a US assessment that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide and sanctions targeting Burhan, the fighting has not stopped.
WHO confirms the death toll
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed about the death toll in a post on the social platform X. In a post, Ghebreyesus wrote, "The appalling attack on Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, led to 19 injuries and 70 deaths among patients and companions. ” “At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care," he added.
Earlier, officials in the capital of North Darfur province cited a similar figure Saturday, but Ghebreyesus is the first international source to provide a casualty number.
Notably, reporting on Sudan is difficult due to the prevalence of communication challenges exacerbated by both the RSF and the Sudanese military.
Sudan remains unstable since 2019
Sudan has remained unstable since a popular uprising saw the removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
However, the march to democracy ended soon as Burhan and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF joined forces to lead a military coup in October 2021.
Notably, Al-Bashir faces charges at the International Criminal Court over carrying out a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s in the western Darfur region with the Janjaweed, the precursor to the RSF.
Rights groups and the UN say the RSF and allied Arab militias are again attacking ethnic African groups in this war.
The RSF and Sudan's military began fighting each other in April 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.
(With inputs from AP)
Also Read | US sanctions leader of Sudanese Armed Forces over war crimes, humanitarian crisis