Surgeon killed during operation after drone hits hospital in Sudan

Sudanese families reach out as aid workers distribute food supplies in Al Dabbah, Sudan's Northern State last November. Picture: Marwan Ali/AP

A surgeon was killed mid‑operation after a drone hit a hospital in Sudan.

The attack was reportedly carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the country’s health system is now on the brink of “complete collapse”.

Hospitals in Sudan have been repeatedly targeted during the conflict, which is in its fourth year after fighting erupted in April 2023.

A March 20 drone strike on Al-Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur left 64 people dead, including patients, and another 89 injured. 

In the Blue Nile State city of Al‑Kurmuk, a hospital was looted on March 25 and essential equipment was destroyed. Staff and patients were forced from the facility, and one healthcare worker was left critically injured.

Another drone attack struck Al Jabalain Hospital in White Nile State on April 2. The hospital director was killed while performing surgery, one of 10 medical and administrative staff who died in the attack. A further 22 people were injured, the WHO said.

On the same day, the Family Hospital in Al-Daein was looted. Patients and health care workers were assaulted and expelled from the facility and the hospital was forced to suspend its work.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned: “The ongoing conflict has pushed the health system to the edge of complete collapse.” 

He described the situation as “one of the gravest humanitarian and public health emergencies in the world today”.

Over 33.7m people now require “urgent, life-saving assistance”, said Mr Tedros, noting this amounts to half of Sudan’s population.

He called for other countries to take action, claiming that “Sudan cannot endure this crisis alone”.

These incidents are stark reminders of the urgent need for renewed international solidarity and decisive political and humanitarian action.

Last month, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond said the aid budget this year has risen to €866.4m.

“This will enable us to continue to fund quality programming in the areas of health, education, food, and nutrition and to increase assistance for humanitarian response in Gaza and Sudan while maintaining support to less visible crises such as in Haiti, South Sudan, and Myanmar,” he told the Dáil.

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