The World Health Organization has condemned a recent attack on Al-Mujlad Hospital in Sudan, which resulted in the deaths of over 40 individuals, including medics and six children. As calls for a halt to violence against health facilities grow, the UN highlights the unfolding humanitarian tragedy amidst ongoing civil war.
Tragic Hospital Attack in Sudan Claims Lives of Children and Medics
Tragic Hospital Attack in Sudan Claims Lives of Children and Medics
Over 40 individuals, including children and health workers, were killed in a hospital attack in Sudan, provoking international condemnation.
A tragic incident in Sudan has resulted in the loss of over 40 lives, including children and healthcare workers, following an attack on Al-Mujlad Hospital in West Kordofan state. The World Health Organization (WHO) director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the assault as "appalling," and emphasized the urgent need for an end to attacks on healthcare services globally.
The attack occurred on Saturday at the only functioning hospital in the region, compounded by ongoing civil war that has left the country struggling with one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the United Nations. The warring factions—the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)—have exchanged blame over the incident, with civil society groups alleging that the SAF was responsible for the assault.
The Sudan Doctors Network reported that six of the deceased were children, while five were health workers trying to provide care in dire conditions. This violence against medical facilities falls amid widespread allegations of war crimes and atrocities committed by both sides involved in the conflict.
Catherine Russell, the head of UNICEF, recently raised alarms regarding the deteriorating situation for children impacted by the conflict, stating that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable youths are facing severe risks, including malnutrition and exploitation. The ongoing violence, coupled with inadequate responses to humanitarian needs, continues to deepen the crisis affecting the child population in Sudan and neighboring regions.
As international organizations call for urgent action, the evidence of war crimes—including assaults on children within the conflict—serves as a grim reminder of the humanitarian toll that the escalating violence is inflicting on the civilian population.
