Health emergency and epidemic control director shot dead in West Kordofan attack

The director of the Health Emergency and Epidemic Control Department in West Kordofan, Dr Safaa El Dalil, was killed by unidentified assailants in the state capital El Fula, on Tuesday evening. Four other doctors, including her husband, were injured in the attack, that prompted local authorities to implement several emergency measures.

Residents of El Fula reported that unidentified gunmen “opened fire on a vehicle carrying doctors from the Ministry of Health and El Sadaga Hospital, as they were leaving the hospital on Tuesday evening.

“One of the doctors is in a coma, and another is undergoing surgeries for four gunshot wounds”, a resident told Radio Dabanga. El Dalil’s husband, Dr Mohamed Nourein, is said to be in stable condition after “sustaining injuries to his extremities”.

Journalist Salah Mohamedi told Radio Dabanga that El Fula is witnessing anger and tension in the aftermath of the incident, and no party has tracked down the perpetrators.

Residents of El Fula organised a protest march on Wednesday morning to “condemn El Dalil’s murder and the injury of four other doctors”. The march reached the office of the West Kordofan state government secretariat and was addressed by Dep Gov Adam Karshoum, who stressed the government’s commitment to “identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice”.

Emergency measures The executive director of El Fula locality, Daw El Beit Gomaa, issued orders restricting the movement of unregistered vehicles (known as boko haram) and rickshaws from 06.00 to 18.00, as well as a ban on “carrying and using firearms in public places and events inside El Fula”, in response to the incident. The order also prohibits holding parties at night, as well as “commercial activities in El Wahda Market, and the truck market, from 18.00 to 01.00”.