A suspected drone attack on a hospital in Sudan kills 6, activists say
CAIRO (AP) — A suspected drone attack by Sudanese paramilitaries Friday hit a hospital in southern Sudan, killing at least six people and knocking the facility out of service, officials and rights advocates said.
The Emergency Lawyers, a rights group, blamed the Rapid Support Forces for the attack on the Obeid International Hospital, al-Dhaman, in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan province. At least 15 others were wounded in the attack, it said.
In a statement on social media, the hospital said the attack resulted in severe damage to its main building. Services at the hospital, the main medical facility serving the region, were suspended until further notice, it said.
Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country.
The Emergency Lawyers, which tracks Sudan’s war, said the attack on the hospital was part of a large-scale artillery offensive on the city, which is held by the military. Obeid is 363 kilometers (225 miles) south of Khartoum.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The attack was the latest on Obeid. On May 10, at least 20 inmates were killed in a drone attack on the city’s main prison. That attack was also blamed on the RSF.
The war in Sudan has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international rights groups.
The conflict created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine. Thousands of people have been killed and over 14 million were forced to flee their homes.