[00:00] Adriana Costa: Developing news this Sunday, March 22nd.
[00:04] Adriana Costa: From the Neural Newscast Newsroom, I'm Adriana Costa.
[00:07] Benjamin Roth: And I'm Benjamin Roth.
[00:09] Benjamin Roth: We begin in Sudan, where the World Health Organization has confirmed a major strike on a
[00:15] Benjamin Roth: healthcare facility in East Darfur.
[00:17] Benjamin Roth: On Friday, heavy weapons fire hit the Eldane Teaching Hospital.
[00:22] Benjamin Roth: The WHO reports at least 64 people were killed and nearly 90 others injured.
[00:29] Benjamin Roth: The attack caused extensive damage to the emergency department and destroyed vital medical supplies,
[00:36] Benjamin Roth: leaving the facility completely non-functional.
[00:39] Adriana Costa: The casualties include patients, medical staff, and children.
[00:43] Adriana Costa: While the WHO does not officially attribute blame in its records,
[00:48] Adriana Costa: the advocacy group Emergency Lawyers, which monitors atrocities in the conflict,
[00:53] Adriana Costa: says the damage was the result of a Sudanese Army drone strike.
[00:56] Adriana Costa: El Dain is currently under the control of the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
[01:03] Adriana Costa: The Sudanese Army has intensified its aerial campaign in the region to disrupt RSF operations along the country's central corridor.
[01:12] Benjamin Roth: This incident follows a pattern of escalating violence.
[01:16] Benjamin Roth: Earlier this month, United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk expressed alarm over the use of heavy drones in populated areas.
[01:26] Benjamin Roth: Reports indicate that over an eight-day period recently, more than 200 civilians were killed by drone attacks across the country.
[01:34] Benjamin Roth: Adriana, these weapons have a massive radius of impact, making their use in urban centers
[01:40] Benjamin Roth: like El Dain particularly devastating for non-combatants.
[01:44] Adriana Costa: The health system has been a consistent target throughout the war.
[01:49] Adriana Costa: By late last year, data showed more than 1,800 people had been killed in attacks on medical
[01:56] Adriana Costa: facilities, including nearly 200 health workers.
[02:00] Adriana Costa: This strike on El Dain is among the deadliest single incidents recorded this year.
[02:07] Adriana Costa: It creates a critical void in a region already grappling with what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.
[02:18] Benjamin Roth: The numbers provide a grim sense of the scale.
[02:22] Benjamin Roth: More than 11 million people have been forced from their homes, and an estimated 33 million
[02:28] Benjamin Roth: now require humanitarian assistance.
[02:31] Benjamin Roth: The loss of a major teaching hospital further erodes the infrastructure needed to combat
[02:37] Benjamin Roth: famine and disease outbreaks.
[02:40] Benjamin Roth: This shift toward near-daily drone strikes suggests that military gains are being prioritized over the basic survival of the Sudanese people.
[02:50] Adriana Costa: We will continue to monitor the humanitarian situation in Darfur and across the region.
[02:56] Adriana Costa: I'm Adriana Costa.
[02:58] Benjamin Roth: And I'm Benjamin Roth.
[03:00] Benjamin Roth: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed.
[03:04] Benjamin Roth: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.