Sudan's RSF Drones Strike Hospital During Children's Vaccination Drive, Killing 10 Including 7 Medical Staff

Sudanese paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces carried out two drone strikes on Al-Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State last Thursday, killing at least 10 people — seven of them medical staff — and injuring 19 others, according to Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders.

The strikes hit the hospital's operating theater and maternity ward in a single afternoon attack, destroying critical surgical equipment and forcing the facility to suspend operations entirely. The injured were transported to a hospital in Kosti, approximately 50 miles away, in the middle of what was described as a children's immunization campaign against polio and measles.

"The attack is even more appalling as it occurred during a children's immunization campaign," MSF said in a statement issued Friday. The medical charity said seven of the 10 dead were healthcare workers, some of whom had previously partnered with MSF on other projects in the region. "MSF is outraged by these repeated attacks on health care, which have escalated dangerously in recent weeks."

The attack marks the latest in what the United Nations and international health organizations describe as an alarming escalation of drone warfare targeting Sudan's already-decimated healthcare infrastructure. The World Health Organization reported in March that more than 200 separate attacks on healthcare facilities have been recorded since Sudan's civil war began in April 2023 — a conflict that has now killed more than 40,000 people by UN count, with humanitarian organizations estimating the true toll may be far higher.

Sudan's Minister of Culture, speaking from Port Sudan where the internationally recognized government operates, condemned the attack and renewed calls for the international community to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization. Sudan's Foreign Ministry said the strikes amounted to a war crime and filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Security Council.

The RSF, which controls large swaths of Sudan's territory including most of Darfur, has conducted an aggressive air campaign using Chinese-supplied drones against civilian infrastructure in areas under government control. A strike on a hospital in Darfur last month killed 70 people, including at least 13 children. Local rights group Emergency Lawyers said the Al-Jabalain attack also struck a nearby medical supply depot in the city of Rabak, compounding the destruction to healthcare logistics in the region.

The civil war between Sudan's military and the RSF has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. According to the UN, more than 12 million people have been displaced — the largest internal displacement crisis on earth — and widespread famine conditions have taken hold in parts of Darfur and Kordofan. International efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly collapsed, with both sides accused of systematic attacks on civilians.

Thursday's hospital attack drew renewed calls from international aid organizations and European governments for targeted sanctions on RSF commanders. The United States has already designated the RSF's leadership, including its commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, as responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity. The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the attack at an emergency session this week, though analysts express skepticism that any binding resolution is possible given the expected vetoes from China and Russia.