Sudan Hospital Attack Kills 70 People in Darfur
Sudan Hospital Attack Kills 70 People in Darfur
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus) denounced the heinous attack against a hospital in the city of El Fasher in Sudan.
Ghebreyesus said, “The appalling attack on Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, led to 19 injuries and 70 deaths among patients and companions.”
Ghebreyesus continued, “At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care.”
Darfur Governor Mini Minnawi confirmed that many patients were killed in the drone attack. This includes many women and children.
AP News reports, “The attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital, which local officials blamed on the rebel Rapid Support Forces, came as the group has seen apparent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan. That includes Burhan appearing near a burning oil refinery north of Khartoum on Saturday that his forces said they seized from the RSF.”
Last year, the United Nations (UN) singled out the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and various allies for committing horrendous crimes against non-Arabs in Darfur and South Kordofan. It is known that non-Arab Masalits were especially singled out in Darfur (other non-Arab groups targeted) – while in South Kordofan, the African Nuba are singled out. Therefore, the latest attack against a hospital is yet another massacre in this brutal war.
Reuters reports, “The war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces, which broke out in April 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the two forces, has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.”
A statement by the Sudan Foreign Ministry said, “The RSF’s actions were enabled by international inaction and the U.N. Security Council’s failure to enforce its resolution 2736, which called for a cessation of hostilities. It also urged international bodies to hold the RSF’s sponsors accountable, who it said were providing the group with drones.”
The United Arab Emirates is accused of providing the RSF with ample drones in this brutal war – and other military supplies.
The Independent reports, “Millions of refugees have fled to neighbouring countries like Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan. More than 24 million people – half of Sudan’s population – are facing ‘acute food insecurity’, according to the latest UN figures.”
Human Rights Watch – concerning South Kordofan – reports, “Other pockets of South Kordofan are under the control of the SAF, while the RSF controls the town of Dibeibat and its surroundings. Parts of the state are not under the control of any particular force. The RSF has allied with predominantly Arab militias and has brutalized certain ethnic groups including the Massalit and the Nuba, by killing, injuring, torturing, detaining, and raping civilians from these communities, destroying their homes, and looting their possessions.”
Sadly, repeated calls for a cessation of violence have failed in this war-torn nation.
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