Several medical staff and others were left severely injured after a shocking early-morning assault on a British Hospital in Sudan, in what some are calling a serious breach of international law
Multiple doctors and nurses were badly injured at a British Hospital at dawn today (March 2) following a shocking assault. While some of the wounded are currently fighting for their lives, the horrific attack was claim to be a clear violation of itnernational law.
Sudan Doctors Network announced today on X (formerly known as Twitter), Sudanese paramilitary force, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targetted in an aerial attack the British Hospital in the city of El-Obeid. The assault left 12 people severly injured, including five medical staff and 12 people.
Moreover, five medical personnel were injured while performing their professional duties inside the British Hospital, Sudan Doctors Network stated.
The network further informed: “Some of the injured are in critical condition after the Rapid Support Forces targeted the hospital at dawn today, in a clear assault on civilian and medical facilities that serve a large segment of the population. The Sudan Doctors Network strongly condemns this blatant attack on the British Hospital, considering it a serious violation of international humanitarian law, which guarantees the protection of medical facilities and their staff.
“The attack endangers the lives of patients and healthcare workers and undermines humanitarian efforts. The network emphasises that such attacks on medical facilities represent a dangerous escalation and result in the suspension of services provided to citizens and displaced persons in the area.
“The Sudan Doctors Network calls on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights organisations to take urgent action to ensure full protection for medical facilities and their staff, and to pressure the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces to stop targeting medical and civilian facilities that provide services to more than one million displaced people in the city of El-Obeid.” The recent attack on the British Hospital marks a disturbing escalation in the ongoing pattern of violence targeting healthcare infrastructure amid Sudan’s protracted civil war.
El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, holds significant humanitarian and military value. The city sits astride the main supply route linking Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, with the conflict-ravaged Darfur region to the west.
Despite being encircled by the RSF, El-Obeid remains under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which is led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and dominated by members of Arab tribes from central Sudan. The RSF has captured surrounding towns, including Bara, intensifying the siege on El-Obeid.
The city has become a sanctuary for over one million displaced people fleeing violence in Darfur and Khartoum, placing immense strain on its already overstretched hospitals, including the British Hospital, which has served as a critical lifeline for civilians.
What’s happening in Sudan?
At the heart of the conflict are two former allies: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the SAF, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, leader of the RSF, a powerful paramilitary group. In 2021, both men joined forces to seize control of the government.
However, when the time came to return power to civilians, they could not agree on how to merge their forces into a single national army. Neither was willing to step aside, and by April 2023, their rivalry erupted into open warfare, plunging Sudan into chaos.
The consequences have been catastrophic. The United Nations now ranks Sudan as the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis.
More than 12 million people have been forced from their homes. Sudan is also facing the world’s worst hunger crisis, with more people living in famine conditions than anywhere else on the planet.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including the deliberate destruction of hospitals, schools, and marketplaces, leaving civilians increasingly vulnerable. While the crisis may seem distant, its effects are being felt far beyond Sudan’s borders.
The country shares frontiers with seven neighbours, including Egypt and Chad, and its collapse threatens to destabilise the entire Horn of Africa. As millions flee the violence, many are pushed towards Europe in search of safety.
Meanwhile, foreign powers such as the United Arab Emirates and Russia have been accused of fuelling the conflict by supplying weapons in exchange for access to Sudan’s gold reserves and strategic ports. Sadly, there is still no ceasefire in sight.
Sudan remains fragmented, its people caught in the crossfire of a bitter power struggle that has become one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time.
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