A strike on a hospital in Sudan’s eastern Darfur region killed at least 64 people on Friday, including 13 children and three medical workers, according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said the attack had pushed the death toll from assaults on health facilities during Sudan’s war beyond 2,000.
Tedros said the attack hit El-Daein Teaching Hospital, the main referral facility in East Darfur state capital El-Daein, killing patients, children and health workers and injuring at least 89 others. Among the dead were two female nurses and one male doctor, while eight health staff were reported wounded. The strike also severely damaged the hospital’s paediatric, maternity and emergency departments, leaving the facility non-functional and cutting off critical medical services in an area already battered by nearly three years of conflict.
Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said the hospital was hit by a drone strike carried out by the Sudanese army, though the WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care does not assign blame. In a statement carried by Sudan’s official SUNA news agency, the Sudan Armed Forces denied targeting medical facilities and accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of routinely attacking service institutions. Reuters reported that the army said it adhered to international law, while the RSF-controlled city of El-Daein has been repeatedly targeted as fighting intensifies across Darfur and other parts of Sudan.
The attack drew swift condemnation from the United Nations humanitarian office in Sudan, which said it was appalled by the strike. Tedros said WHO was working with local health partners to scale up care at other facilities, including trauma treatment and emergency medical supplies, in an effort to plug urgent gaps left by the destruction of the hospital. He renewed his call for the protection of civilians, health workers and aid personnel, saying, “Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine.”
The latest strike highlights the growing lethality of attacks on health care in Sudan since war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the RSF. WHO data show 213 verified attacks on health care have now killed 2,036 people. The trend has worsened sharply: 64 attacks killed 38 people in 2023, 72 attacks killed 200 in 2024, and 65 attacks killed 1,620 in 2025 alone — accounting for 82% of all reported deaths from attacks on health care worldwide last year.
The conflict has devastated Sudan, killing tens of thousands of people and uprooting more than 11 million others, while creating what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis. “Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted,” Tedros said, urging all sides to de-escalate a war that continues to destroy both lives and the medical system meant to save them.
