Sudan Hospital Strike: 13+ Children Among 64 Dead

At least 64 people, including 13 children, were killed and 89 others wounded in a strike on a hospital in Sudan, the World Health Organization said Saturday.

Sudan Hospital Attack Kills Dozens

The attack Friday hit el-Daein Teaching Hospital in the state capital of East Darfur, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who added that “enough blood has been spilled” and it was time to stop the nearly three-year conflict ravaging Sudan.

The hospital was struck, resulting in the deaths of at least 64 people, including 13 children, two female nurses, one male doctor, and multiple patients, Ghebreyesus announced on X.

Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers reported that a military drone strike hit the hospital.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces dominate the vast Darfur region in western Sudan, while Sudan’s army controls the east, center and north.

Eight health staff were among those wounded in Friday’s attack, which damaged the hospital’s paediatric, maternity and emergency departments. The hospital is now non-functional “due to the extensive damage,” resulting in a “critical interruption of essential medical services.”

The WHO is supporting local health partners to help fill urgent gaps by scaling up capacity at other health facilities, including increasing capacity to treat the injured, and deploying trauma care supplies and essential medicines.

‘Devastating human toll’

RSF-controlled el-Daein has been regularly attacked by the Sudanese army, which is attempting to push the paramilitaries back toward their Darfur strongholds and away from Sudan’s central corridor. A recent strike on the city’s market earlier this month set fire to oil barrels that burned for hours.

The Sudan Armed Forces said in a statement carried by the official news agency SUNA that it “adheres to international norms and laws.” The army added that “attacking service and health facilities is a persistent practice and a daily activity of this terrorist militia,” referring to the Rapid Support Forces.

The WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) counts and verifies such attacks, but does not attribute blame, as it is not an investigative agency.

The United Nations’ humanitarian office in Sudan said it was “appalled by the attack.” Hospitals have been a regular target throughout the war, which erupted in April 2023, despite repeated condemnation from the UN.

As a result of Friday’s tragedy, the total number of people killed in attacks on health care in the conflict has now passed 2,000. The WHO’s SSA site showed 2,036 people have now been killed in 213 such attacks.

“Beyond the devastating human toll, attacks on health care have immediate and long-term consequences for communities already in desperate need of both emergency and routine medical services,” said Tedros. “Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine,” he said.

SSA figures show attacks on health care in Sudan are growing deadlier by the year. In 2023, 64 attacks caused 38 deaths, and in 2024, 72 attacks led to 200 deaths. In 2025, 65 attacks caused 1,620 deaths – 82% of reported deaths from attacks on health care worldwide.

‘Enough suffering’

The WHO’s SSA said Friday’s strike involved “violence with heavy weapons” and affected not just the hospital, staff and patients but also supplies and storage. Near-daily drone strikes are now a hallmark of Sudan’s brutal war, killing dozens at a time, mostly in the southern Kordofan region.

U.N. rights chief Volker Türk this month said he was “appalled” after more than 200 civilians were reported killed by drone attacks within an eight-day period. “Parties to the conflict in Sudan continue to use increasingly powerful drones to deploy explosive weapons with wide-area impacts in populated areas,” he said.

Across the country, the war has killed tens of thousands and driven more than 11 million people from their homes. It has fuelled what the U.N. describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises, with more than 33 million people in need of humanitarian aid.

“Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted,” said Tedros. “The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers, and humanitarians.”