Khartoum, Sudan, 22 March (H.S.): The World Health Organization has confirmed a deadly attack on a major teaching hospital in Sudan’s war‑torn Darfur region, with at least 64 people killed and dozens injured. The strike hit the Al Daein Teaching Hospital in Al Daein, the capital of East Darfur, late on Friday night, 20 March 2026, and has left the facility inoperative, severely disrupting critical medical services in the area.

What the WHO has said

WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed the details of the attack via a social media post on Saturday, 21 March, stating that the death toll includes 13 children, two female nurses, one male doctor and several patients. He also reported that 89 people were injured in the assault, eight of them health‑care workers.

The bombing damaged the hospital’s pediatric, maternity and emergency departments, making the site non‑functional at a time when local communities already face severe shortages of medical care.

In the same statement, Tedros noted that the attack on Al Daein Teaching Hospital is now counted among the 213 assaults on health facilities recorded during Sudan’s nearly three‑year conflict. The total number of deaths linked to such attacks has now crossed 2,000, reaching 2,036, he said. The WHO has repeatedly warned that the targeting of hospitals and medical staff in Sudan violates international humanitarian law and deepens the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Humanitarian impact and context

The destruction of Al Daein Teaching Hospital means that emergency surgeries, maternal care and pediatric treatment in East Darfur have been severely disrupted, forcing survivors to travel long distances to reach the few remaining functional facilities. The WHO and local rights groups have described the strike as a potential war crime, given that the hospital was a clearly marked medical facility serving civilians in an active conflict zone.

The bombing comes amid ongoing clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have already killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced millions.

The UN and humanitarian agencies have expressed alarm at the repeated targeting of hospitals, markets and displacement camps, warning that the war is pushing Sudan’s health system to the brink of collapse.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar