The attack on a teaching hospital in al-Daein, the capital of East Darfur state, has rendered the facility non-functional.
An attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region has killed at least 64 people, including 13 children, according to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a social media post, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday that multiple patients, two female nurses and one male doctor were also among those killed in the attack on al-Daein Teaching Hospital in al-Daein, the capital of East Darfur state, on Friday night.
Another 89 people, including eight healthcare staff, were wounded, he added.
The attack damaged the hospital’s paediatric, maternity and emergency departments, rendering the facility nonfunctional and cutting off essential medical services in the city.
“As a result of this tragedy, the total number of fatalities linked to attacks on health facilities during Sudan’s war has now surpassed 2,000,” said Tedros, adding that over the nearly three-year conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the WHO had confirmed the killing of 2,036 people in 213 attacks on healthcare.
Sudanese rights group the Emergency Lawyers reported it was an army drone strike that hit the hospital.
The war between the army and the RSF erupted in mid-April 2023, unleashing a wave of violence that has led to one of the world’s fastest-growing man-made humanitarian crises, with tens of thousands of people killed, more than 12 million forced from their homes, and more than 33 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
The RSF dominate the vast Darfur region in western Sudan, while Sudan’s army is in control of the east, centre and north.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the RSF has been implicated in atrocities in Darfur that United Nations experts say bear the hallmarks of genocide.
RSF-controlled al-Daein has been regularly attacked by the Sudanese army, which is trying to push the paramilitaries back towards its Darfur strongholds and away from Sudan’s central corridor. Its most recent strike on the city’s market earlier this month set fire to oil barrels that burned for hours.
The WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) counts and verifies such attacks, but it does not attribute blame, as it is not an investigative agency. It said Friday’s strike involved “violence with heavy weapons” and affected not just the hospital, staff and patients but also supplies and storage.
The SSA figures show attacks on healthcare in Sudan are growing deadlier by the year.
In 2023, 64 attacks caused 38 deaths, and the following year, 72 attacks led to 200 deaths. In 2025, 65 attacks caused 1,620 deaths – 82 percent of reported deaths from attacks on healthcare worldwide.
‘Enough blood has been spilled’
Near-daily drone attacks are now a hallmark of Sudan’s brutal war, killing dozens at a time, mostly in the South Kordofan region.
UN rights chief Volker Turk this month said he was “appalled” after more than 200 civilians were reported killed by drone attacks within eight days.
“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.
The UN’s humanitarian office in Sudan said it was “appalled by the attack”. Despite repeated condemnation by the UN, hospitals have been a regular target throughout the war.
As a result of Friday’s tragedy, the total number of people killed in attacks on healthcare in the conflict has now passed 2,000, the AFP news agency reported. The WHO’s SSA site showed 2,036 people have now been killed in 213 such attacks.
“Beyond the devastating human toll, attacks on healthcare have immediate and long-term consequences for communities already in desperate need of both emergency and routine medical services. Healthcare should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine,” said Tedros.
“Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted. The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan and ensure the protection of civilians, health workers, and humanitarians.”