AN ATTACK on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region has slaughtered at least 64 people, including 13 children, according to the head of the World Health Organisation.

In a social media post, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said patients, two female nurses and one male doctor were among those killed in the attack on the Teaching Hospital in al-Daein, the capital of East Darfur state, on Friday night.

Another 89 people were wounded, he added.

The attack damaged the hospital’s paediatric, maternity and emergency departments, rendering the facility non-functional and cutting off essential medical services in the city.

Mr Ghebreyesus said: “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,” adding that over the nearly three-year conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UN health body had confirmed the killing of 2,036 people in 213 attacks on healthcare facilities.

“Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted. The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan,” said Dr Ghebreyesus.

Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese rights group, said it was an army drone that hit the hospital.

The war between the Egyptian and Saudi Arabia-backed army and the United Arab Emirates-supported RSF erupted in mid-April 2023.

The violence has led to one of the world’s fastest-growing 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 dominates 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 UN experts say could amount to genocide.