UN chief condemns ‘appalling’ attack on Darfur hospital

UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” a paramilitary attack on a hospital in El-Fasher, in Sudan’s western Darfur region, that killed 70 people, his spokesman said Monday.
“This appalling attack which affected the only functioning hospital in Darfur’s largest city comes after more than 21 months of war have left much of Sudan’s health care system in tatters,” Stephane Dujarric said.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal war between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
RSF paramilitaries have captured every state capital in the vast western region of Darfur except for El-Fasher, which they have besieged since May.
“The secretary-general reiterates that, under international humanitarian law, the wounded and sick, as well as medical personnel and medical facilities, must be respected and protected at all times,” Dujarric said.
The Friday hospital attack left 70 people dead and 19 injured, according to the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom.
The war in Sudan has so far killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted over 12 million and threatened millions across the country with mass starvation.
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.