Sudan: United Nations (UN) chief condemns deadly strikes on children’s nursery, hospital

 

As Sudan’s civil war intensified on Monday, top UN officials condemned the killing of dozens of children in drone strikes in South Kordofan state – and the targeting of first responders trying to help the wounded.

In a statement issued by his Spokesperson, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was appalled to learn that multiple drone strikes on 4 December had hit a children’s nursery and a hospital in Kalogi, where the injured were being treated.

Echoing those concerns, the head of UN World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that Kalogi Rural Hospital had been targeted at least three times, killing 114 people including 63 children.

Blood bank call

Survivors from those strikes have been moved to Abu Jebaiha Hospital in South Kordofan for treatment “and urgent calls are being made for blood donations and other medical support”, Tedros noted in a statement posted on X.

“Disturbingly, paramedics and responders came under attack as they tried to move the injured from the kindergarten to the hospital,” Tedros added.

On the same day as those attacks, an aid convoy was also targeted in North Kordofan state. It had been transporting lifesaving supplies to North Darfur when it came under fire, seriously injuring the driver of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) truck.

“The Secretary-General deplores this further attack on humanitarian operations at a time of dire needs,” the statement continued.   

Suffering on a huge scale

Aid agencies warn that the situation across Sudan remains catastrophic for millions of people caught up in heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In the central Kordofan region in particular, dire conditions are worsening still as life-saving supplies run low, while famine conditions have been confirmed in South Kordofan’s state capital, Kadugli.

“As fighting intensifies, the horrific human rights violations and abuses reported in El Fasher in recent months, as well as reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law, must not be repeated in the Kordofan region,” the UN chief’s Spokesperson insisted.

And amid reports of continued foreign involvement in the Sudan conflict, “the Secretary-General calls on all States with influence over the parties to take immediate action and use their leverage to compel an immediate halt to the fighting and stop the arms flows” that are fuelling it, his Spokesperson’s statement added.

“The Secretary-General renews his call on the parties to agree on an immediate cessation of hostilities and to resume talks to reach a lasting ceasefire and a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process. The United Nations stands ready to support genuine steps to end the fighting in Sudan and chart a path towards a durable peace.”

UN rights chief’s plea

The development comes after the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said that he feared “another wave of atrocities” in Sudan.

Since late October, hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands more have fled aerial strikes, shelling and summary executions, he said, amid mass civilian displacement involving more than 45,000 people fleeing violence and seeking safety in or near to Kordofan region.

“Safe passage for those fleeing the horror of famine, death and destruction is essential and a human rights imperative,” the High Commissioner’s office said.

In an appeal for “urgent diplomatic action” the WFP’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau insisted that greater attention was needed to prevent further atrocities and help reverse famine.

More than 30 million people in Sudan now need humanitarian assistance and more than nine million have been displaced inside the country since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the SAF and paramilitary RSF.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.