Nine dead, 17 injured in RSF drone strike on Sudan’s Dilling military hospital

Nine dead, 17 injured in RSF drone strike on Sudan’s Dilling military hospital

A drone strike on Al-Dilling Military Hospital in southern Sudan killed nine civilians and injured 17, including medical staff, as a doctors’ group blames RSF and urges urgent international action.

At least nine civilians were killed and 17 others injured on Sunday when a drone struck an army hospital in the besieged southern Sudanese city of Dilling, a local aid group has reported.

The Sudan Doctors Network has blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack, adding that the strikes were not limited to Al-Dilling Military Hospital.

"Nine people were killed and 17 others injured, including medical personnel, as a result of deliberate artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeting Al-Dilling Military Hospital and a number of civilian locations today, including the Karoul and Al-Samasim areas south of Dilling," the Doctors Network said in a statement on X.

While condemning the RSF for violating international law, which prohibits targeting medical facilities and civilians, the group urged the global community to hold the paramilitary group accountable.

"The Sudan Doctors Network strongly condemns this systematic targeting of health institutions and healthcare workers, and holds the RSF leadership fully responsible for these crimes and their grave humanitarian and health consequences," it said.

Protect civilians, medical facilities

"The Network calls on the international community, as well as human rights and humanitarian organisations, to take urgent action to protect civilians and medical facilities, ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid, and lift the siege on South Kordofan State."

The latest strikes come just a day after a deadly drone attack on a United Nations logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, that killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers and injured eight others.

The victims were members of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), tasked with overseeing and maintaining peace in the disputed Abyei region.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack, stressing that targeting UN personnel is unacceptable and could amount to war crimes under international law.

"Attacks against UN peacekeepers like this one are unjustifiable & may constitute war crimes. I remind everyone of their obligation to protect UN personnel & civilians. There will need to be accountability," he said.

"My heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers & the Government & people of Bangladesh. I wish a swift recovery to the injured."

The ongoing war between the RSF and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), which began in April 2023, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced nearly 13 million people to flee their homes, according to international agencies.

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