Sudan — Health facilities across Sudan are witnessing an unprecedented wave of repeated attacks, resulting in deaths and injuries, at a time when the need for medical services is increasing amid escalating conflict.

The World Health Organization announced that the repeated attacks on hospitals in Sudan have caused hundreds of deaths and injuries, exposing civilians and healthcare workers to serious risks and severely limiting access to essential medical services.

The organization stated that since April 2023, Sudan has witnessed a total of 201 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 1,858 deaths and 490 injuries. During the current year alone, WHO recorded 65 attacks that led to more than 1,620 deaths and 276 injuries—accounting for over 80% of all global deaths resulting from attacks on the health sector this year.

The WHO representative in Sudan confirmed that the pace of attacks continues to escalate, worsening the crisis of access to healthcare at a time of acute need, and stressed the urgent necessity of protecting medical personnel.

The organization documented the most recent attack on December 14 in the city of Dilling, South Kordofan, where nine healthcare workers were killed and 17 others injured. Earlier, on December 4, an attack on a kindergarten and the Kalogi Rural Hospital resulted in the deaths of 114 people, including 60 children.

In the Darfur region, ongoing violence has led to the detention of around 5,000 civilians in the city of Nyala, in addition to deliberate attacks on a maternity hospital in El Fasher that claimed the lives of more than 460 people and resulted in the abduction of six medical staff members.

The World Health Organization called on all parties to immediately halt these attacks and ensure broader access for humanitarian aid, in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Continued Detention of Medical Staff in Nyala

In a related development, the Sudan Doctors Network announced that forces responsible for guarding Daqrees and Kober prisons—under the control of the Rapid Support Forces in the city of Nyala—have released nine detained medical staff members out of a total of 73, with no information available regarding the fate of the remaining detainees.

The network reported that since April 2023, it has documented the killing of more than 234 medical workers and injuries to over 507 others, in addition to more than 59 missing medical staff whose fate remains unknown. Meanwhile, 73 medical workers remain detained in Nyala under extremely poor conditions.

While welcoming the release of some detained medical staff and describing it as a positive step in the right direction, the network emphasized the need to complete this process by releasing all detained medical personnel and civilians without exception, ensuring their safety and respecting their human rights in accordance with international laws and conventions.

The network also called for urgent access by UN organizations to the detainees and for enabling them to communicate with their families, who remain unaware of their fate amid the enforced blackout surrounding the conditions of those forcibly detained in Nyala.

Finally, the network held the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces fully responsible for the safety and lives of civilians detained under these dire conditions, calling for their immediate release and for respect of international humanitarian law, which guarantees the protection of civilians and healthcare workers in conflict zones