PORT SUDAN: Shelling by Sudanese paramilitaries killed five people outside one of the last medical facilities still operating in Khartoum’s sister city of Omdurman on Tuesday, a medical source told AFP.
Requesting anonymity for safety reasons, the source said volunteers at Al-Nao Hospital were among the dead in the bombardment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been at war with the regular army since April 2023.
“The shells landed in the garden adjacent to the hospital,” the source said.
Al-Nao Hospital, which is supported by medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF), lies in an area controlled by the Sudanese army and has been repeatedly attacked since the start of the war.
Greater Khartoum has been one of the main battlegrounds of the struggle for power between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy. RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.
Both sides have been accused of indiscriminately shelling health facilities and residential areas.
Gains by the army in Khartoum in recent weeks prompted the RSF to announce a counteroffensive last week.
On Saturday, at least 60 people were killed in an RSF bombardment that hit a busy market in Omdurman.
The RSF holds much of western and southern Sudan while the army retains control of the east and north.
Paramilitary shelling kills five at Sudan hospital: medical source
https://arab.news/j626g
Paramilitary shelling kills five at Sudan hospital: medical source
- The source said volunteers at Al-Nao Hospital were among the dead in the bombardment by the paramilitary RSF
- “The shells landed in the garden adjacent to the hospital“
UN rights chief slams dangerous ‘tit-for-tat dynamic’ in Mideast war
- Turk deplored the extensive attacks in residential areas, on health facilities, schools, cultural property and water and energy infrastructure
- He stressed that “under the laws of war, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all costs“
GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief voiced alarm Tuesday at the Middle East conflict’s deepening impact on civilians, warning of the dangers of the seeming “tit-for-tat dynamic” between the warring sides.
The United States and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, prompting waves of Iranian strikes across the Gulf.
With hostilities intensifying, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk deplored the extensive attacks in residential areas, on health facilities, schools, cultural property and water and energy infrastructure.
“This apparent tit-for-tat dynamic, involving essential infrastructure with extremely significant civilian impacts, will only increase risks for civilian populations more broadly, with potentially dire consequences across the entire region,” he warned in a statement.
Turk stressed that “under the laws of war, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all costs.”
“All parties are bound by these rules, and must be held to account if they do not,” he said, warning: “the world is watching.”
The UN rights chief warned that “strikes against vital civilian infrastructure in the Middle East — as well as the widening geographic spread of strikes — are further increasing risks for populations across the region, and beyond.”
He pointed to strikes on a water desalination plant and fuel facilities in Iran over the weekend, igniting fires and reportedly disrupting water access for dozens of villages.
It also prompted warnings of “acid rain” that could cause chemical burns and serious lung damage.
“The foreseeable impacts on civilians and the environment of these strikes raise serious questions as to compliance of these attacks with the requirements of international humanitarian law of proportionality and precaution,” Turk said.
“This warrants careful legal scrutiny.”
He also highlighted the broader impact of the war.
The plunge in commercial shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz was taking a severe toll on access to energy, food and fertilizer across the region and beyond — hitting the world’s most vulnerable people the hardest.
Turk raised concern about reports of detentions, charges and other forms of repression and intimidation against people in a number of countries, in connection with their expression of opinions around the Middle East conflict.
He demanded that all those arbitrarily detained be released immediately and unconditionally.
“States are reminded of their obligation under international human rights law to respect and protect people’s right to freedom of expression — particularly in times of crisis,” he said.
