The World Health Organization confirmed Saturday that a strike on El-Daein Teaching Hospital in Sudan’s East Darfur state killed at least 64 people, including 13 children, two female nurses, and one male doctor. The attack Friday substantially damaged the hospital’s pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments, rendering the facility non-functional and creating critical interruption of essential medical services in the region. Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers reported that the hospital was struck by an army drone, with the Sudanese Armed Forces denying responsibility while accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of persistent attacks on health facilities.
The hospital strike represents latest escalation in what the WHO characterizes as systematic targeting of health care infrastructure throughout Sudan’s brutal conflict. The death toll from the attack brings the total killed in verified attacks on health care facilities to over 2,000 since the war began in April 2023, with 2025 experiencing a dramatic increase in both frequency and lethality of such attacks.
Hospital Strike Causes Extensive Damage and Casualties
The strike on El-Daein Teaching Hospital killed at least 64 people while wounding 89 others, with particular damage to critical medical departments. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the hospital was hit by “violence with heavy weapons” that affected not just the building and occupants but also medical supplies and storage facilities essential for ongoing operations.
The damage to pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments directly impacts the hospital’s capacity to provide obstetric care, neonatal services, and acute trauma treatment. The comprehensive nature of the damage rendered the hospital “non-functional” according to WHO assessment, creating cascading medical consequences for the region’s civilian population.
Targeting of Critical Medical Departments
The deliberate or incidental damage to pediatric and maternity departments suggests either targeting of facilities serving vulnerable populations or indiscriminate strike radius affecting all hospital sections. The maternity department damage has particular consequences given Sudan’s high maternal mortality rates and dependence on hospital-based delivery services.
Child Casualties Among Hospital Deaths
The death of 13 children in the hospital strike represents particularly tragic element of the attack, with children concentrated in pediatric and maternity departments. The WHO specifically highlighted the inclusion of children among casualties as evidence of the humanitarian cost of the conflict.
The death toll composition including medical personnel (two female nurses, one male doctor) and multiple patients indicates comprehensive casualty spectrum including both staff and civilian patients.
Medical Personnel Casualties
The inclusion of health care workers among the dead removes critical medical capacity in a region already experiencing severe health service shortages. The loss of nursing and physician capacity in a hospital already damaged compounds medical service degradation in East Darfur region.
Responsibility and Attribution Disputes
Sudanese Emergency Lawyers reported that the hospital was hit by an army drone strike, consistent with the hospital’s location in army-controlled territory and the pattern of army drone operations in the region. The Sudan Armed Forces denied responsibility while counteraccusing the Rapid Support Forces of systematic attacks on health facilities.
The attribution dispute reflects broader pattern where each party denies responsibility for civilian casualty strikes while accusing the opposing force of systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure including hospitals.
Attribution Challenges in Conflict
The WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care documents such incidents but explicitly does not attribute blame, recognizing that investigative attribution requires evidence evaluation beyond the organization’s mandate. This creates situation where responsibility remains officially unattributed despite credible reporting from local rights groups.
Escalating Pattern of Health Care Attacks
The strike represents latest incident in escalating pattern of attacks on Sudanese health facilities. WHO data shows that attacks on health care have increased dramatically in frequency and lethality:
In 2023: 64 attacks resulted in 38 deaths In 2024: 72 attacks resulted in 200 deaths In 2025: 65 attacks resulted in 1,620 deaths (82 percent of reported global deaths from health care attacks)
The dramatic increase in 2025 death tolls reflects either more lethal individual attacks or greater targeting intensity throughout the year.
Global Disproportion of Sudan Health Care Attacks
Sudan represents disproportionate share of global health care attack fatalities, with 82 percent of worldwide deaths from such attacks occurring in Sudan during 2025. This concentration indicates either particular lethality of Sudan conflict or systematic targeting pattern distinct from other conflicts.
Humanitarian Consequences and Service Disruption
The hospital’s non-functionality creates critical gap in regional medical services, with WHO supporting local partners in scaling up capacity at other facilities. The disruption affects not just emergency and acute care but also routine medical services including maternal health and pediatric care essential for population health maintenance.
The WHO noted that eight health care staff were among the wounded in the attack, further reducing medical personnel availability for treatment of remaining hospital functions at other facilities.
Cascading Health Consequences
The loss of a teaching hospital removes not just treatment capacity but also training functions for health care workers in the region. The disruption of maternity services in particular creates elevated maternal mortality risks in a population already experiencing high rates of maternal death.
Regional Context of Conflict
The hospital is located in El-Daein in East Darfur state, an area where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces dominate the broader Darfur region in western Sudan while the Sudan Army controls eastern, central, and northern territories. The geographic divide reflects ongoing conflict dynamics where each side attempts to consolidate territorial control.
The hospital strike follows recent army strike on El-Daein market that set fire to oil barrels burning for hours, indicating pattern of repeated army operations against RSF-controlled territory.
Systematic Targeting Pattern
The repeated strikes on El-Daein city facilities suggests systematic campaign by army forces to degrade infrastructure and civilian capacity in RSF-controlled areas, rather than isolated incident.
Broader Conflict Toll and Humanitarian Crisis
The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million people from their homes. The conflict has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises, with more than 33 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
The hospital attack contributes to ongoing degradation of health infrastructure in a conflict already characterized by massive humanitarian suffering.
Scale of Humanitarian Need
The displacement of 11 million people and humanitarian need exceeding 33 million indicates scale of humanitarian crisis substantially beyond normal disaster response capacity. The loss of health care facilities compounds existing medical service shortages affecting displaced and conflict-affected populations.
WHO Call for De-escalation
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated: “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.”
The statement represents explicit WHO position calling for conflict termination as essential step toward restoration of medical services and humanitarian protection.
Health Care Protection Framework
Tedros emphasized: “Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine,” highlighting WHO conviction that protection of health care facilities represents humanitarian imperative independent of broader conflict resolution.
Key Incident Details:
- Strike hits El-Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur state
- 64 people killed, 89 wounded in attack
- 13 children among dead, plus two female nurses and one male doctor
- Pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments damaged
- Hospital rendered non-functional due to extensive damage
- Eight health care staff among wounded
- Emergency Lawyers reports army drone strike
- Sudan Armed Forces denies responsibility, accuses Rapid Support Forces
- Total deaths from health care attacks now exceed 2,000 since April 2023
- 2025 accounts for 1,620 deaths in 65 attacks (82 percent of global health care attack deaths)
- War has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million people
- More than 33 million people need humanitarian aid
