At least 20 people were killed and numerous others sustained injuries early Wednesday when a rocket struck a health center in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. This attack in the Samrab neighborhood of Khartoum North has sparked a heated exchange of accusations between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Witnesses reported that the rocket hit El Ahamdah health center, approximately 26.4 kilometers north of central Khartoum, in the 13th block of Samrab, and immediately killed 17 people, including women and children.
Mohammed Jaffer is a member of a local volunteer group known as an emergency committee in the Samrab neighborhood, and said the death toll rose later.
“The health center has been used to treat sick people and injuries,” Jaffer said. “We lost 17 people on the spot, and the number is expected to increase after three others sustained injuries, which raised the death toll to 20.”
He said the damaged health center was one of three facilities offering vital services to suburbs northern of Khartoum. Such attacks, he argued, could amount to crimes against humanity, adversely affecting the people of the Samrab neighborhood who rely on the facility.
“The only ultrasound was damaged, and the other two health centers do not have it,” Jaffer explained. “The area now has one pharmacy, which is already lacking many basic medicines.”
VOA could not independently verify the death toll.
Brigadier General Nabeel Abdallah, spokesperson for the Sudan Armed Forces, denounced the attack and accused the Rapid Support Forces of targeting the health center. He said the Sudan Armed Forces adhere to international humanitarian laws in all military operations.
Abdallah said the actions of RSF constitute war crimes, which should be recorded in the RSF's history.
“Our forces in all its bases, within the capital and other towns, are fighting the enemy in a professional manner, and we stand ready to defend civilians under any attack,” Abdallah told VOA.
The Rapid Support Forces denied any involvement in the attack on the health center. Al Mak Abu Sotan, the RSF commander responsible for Khartoum North, accused the Sudan Armed Forces of bombing the facility.
“It is our hope that there was a wise leader among the Sudan armed forces to stop the ongoing war and stop the bloodshed of the Sudanese youth, who are longing for a bright future.” he told VOA.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, since the conflict began in April, there have been at least 56 documented attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 11 deaths and 38 injuries.
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