Sudanese medics shaken by attacks on hospitals treating protesters
SMA NEWS – KHARTOUM
On the afternoon of Dec. 30, security forces banged on the windows of Khartoum Teaching Hospital then fired tear gas into an emergency room packed with protesters injured in a nearby demonstration.
“We were around the corner trying to hide, it came right past our heads,” said a nurse who asked to withhold her name for fear of retribution. “We couldn’t breathe and had to rush out.”
Attacks on medical facilities seen during an uprising in Sudan three years ago have re-emerged during rallies against an October coup.
Hundreds of protesters have been injured since the coup, mainly from live gunshot and tear gas canisters, and at least 63 have died, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a medics’ union aligned with protesters.
Military leaders justify their coup as saving Sudan from chaos.
In a statement, the Khartoum State security committee expressed regret at the “violations” of hospital grounds and committed to providing high-ranking officers inside facilities to monitor any breaches.
Assaults on medical facilities have centered on hospitals which lie along main protest routes and routinely treat injured protesters.
