On Monday, a hospital in Sudan used by members of the internationally recognized NGO Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was hit by Sudanese air force bombing runs.
Doctors Without Borders said in a statement, “As bombs struck the village of Farandalla on June 16, two hit the MSF hospital there. Five people were wounded in the village, and one MSF staff member was injured at the hospital. We are shocked that a medical facility can be bombed, especially since it was clearly identified with a flag and a cross on the roof.”
MSF said an emergency room, a dressing room, the pharmacy, and the hospital’s kitchen were all heavily damaged in the bombing run.
Sudanese officials denied that the incident happened. “We did not attack any hospital there because our target is not civilians,” said a Sudanese military spokseman.
It is the second time a bombing of a hospital occurred in the past few weeks.
US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said that since April, the Sudanese government has purposefully targeted schools and hospitals with hundreds of air strikes.
A joint statement last week between the US, UK, and Norway said Sudan “continues to wage war and target civilians in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and bears primary responsibility for intensifying the conflict in Darfur.”
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court, charged with committing war crimes in Darfur.