At least 22 people, including four medical staff, were killed and eight others injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) bombed Al-Kuweik Military Hospital in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, a medical group said Thursday.

In a statement, the Sudan Doctors Network said the victims included the hospital’s medical director and three other healthcare workers.

The group condemned the attack, saying the targeting of health facilities and medical personnel “constitutes a war crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and conventions guaranteeing the protection of civilians and medical establishments.”

It said the strike was not an isolated incident, but part of a series of attacks across South Kordofan that have forced several hospitals out of service, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and threatening what remains of healthcare available to civilians.

Call for action

The network held the RSF fully responsible for the attack and urged the international community, UN agencies and human rights organizations to take immediate action to halt repeated assaults on medical facilities.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the accusation.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control.

The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.