Rising death toll in Sudan capital as El Nau Hospital ‘hit by shell’

Intense confrontations continued this week between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudan capital Khartoum, and its sister cities Omdurman and Khartoum North. El Nau Hospital in northern Omdurman, one of the only remaining functional hospitals in the area, was hit by a shell, prompting condemnation from local and international groups, and leading the warring parties to trade blame.

The El Fitihab Resistance Committees in southern Omdurman reported yesterday that two people, including a child, were killed during intense clashes between the SAF and the RSF in the neighbourhood, on Monday. Gharb El Harat, west of Omdurman’s El Sawrat, witnessed an exchange of artillery fire between the army and the RSF on Tuesday.

In Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri), four people were killed on Monday “when a random shell struck El Ahamda 13”, the resistance committee of the neighbourhood reported, accusing the RSF of launching the missile.

Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers, in a statement published Monday, lamented that 54 people lost their lives, while 164 others sustained injuries due to “ongoing indiscriminate shelling in the areas of Omdurman, Jebel Aulia in southwest Khartoum, and El Obeid in North Kordofan.” “This has resulted in the targeting of civilians, and the number of suspended hospitals has exceeded 15,” the statement continues.

The lawyers noted that “45 people were killed and 90 others were injured in Jebel Aulia. They were taken to the Jebel Aulia Hospital and two other hospitals on Saturday”.

The statement emphasised that hospitals are grappling with a shortage of resources, fuel, and services, “leading to the closure of Jebel Aulia Hospital and the military hospital nearby”.

El Nau Hospital attacked

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expressed shock at the deaths of two people in Omdurman’s El Nau Hospital, and two others of the hospital, due to shelling on Monday morning. The organisation emphasised that the bombing of El Nau Hospital would “hinder access to medical care for those in need”.

Volunteers told Radio Dabanga that El Nau Hospital’s returned to service on Monday evening after hours of suspension due to shelling. “Five people were injured within the hospital and promptly transferred to other medical facilities”, MSF said.

Emergency Lawyers accused the RSF of firing “a Katyusha rocket* from a launcher in Khartoum North that landed at the entrance of El Nau Hospital on Monday morning, followed by two additional shells.”

Sudan’s Health Ministry also accused the RSF of shelling El Nau hospital and the Jebel Aulia Hospital with artillery on Monday. The Ministry said the RSF “specifically targeted the kidney department and the laboratory of the Jebel Aulia Hospital, and resulting in civilian fatalities and severe injuries”.

In separate statements, the SAF and the RSF exchanged accusations regarding the hospital’s bombing. The RSF accused the army of shelling El Nau Hospital in Omdurman with artillery from the El Mohandesin Armoured Corps, while army spokesperson Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah accused the RSF of shelling the hospital.

El Nau Hospital is the sole medical facility in northern Omdurman that has remained operational and continues to receive patients, including wounded from Khartoum North, old Omdurman, Karari, and Ombadda. This has resulted in significant pressure and overcrowding at Ibrahim Said Rural Hospital, located north of Omdurman, which received a high number of patients “beyond its capacity”, according to the Lawyers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that 70 percent of health facilities in conflict zones in Sudan are currently out of service, with 20 percent of those that are operational doing so under “inadequate conditions”.

* The ‘Katyusha’ is a multiple rocket launcher first fielded by the USSR in World War II. The multiple projectiles deliver ordnance to a target area more intensively than conventional artillery, but with lower accuracy and requiring a longer time to reload. Its distinctive sound, and multiple pipes, earned it the nickname ‘Stalin’s organ’ (Stalinorgel). (Source: Wikipedia)