UNICEF condemns killing of 12 children in Sudan

UNICEF has condemned the reported killing of at least 12 children in separate attacks in Sudan’s West Kordofan and Khartoum states, warning that neither displacement camps nor residential neighbourhoods are safe.

According to UNICEF’s original statement, which confirms Radio Dabanga’s earlier reporting, nine children aged between five and 10 were reportedly killed on Saturday 17 October in an attack on a camp for displaced families east of Sanakit in West Kordofan. The statement was issued on 20 October.

Two days later, an armed drone struck a residential area in Khartoum, reportedly killing three children – two girls and a boy aged between two and six – along with their father.

The statement confirms earlier reporting by Radio Dabanga on the deadly impact of drone attacks on children in Sudan, including a strike on a shelter for internally displaced people in El Obeid, North Kordofan, that reportedly killed a boy and wounded 12 children.

In its earlier report on the shelter strike, published on 2 October, Radio Dabanga reported that the attack on the El Mina El Bari shelter injured five boys and seven girls. UNICEF had condemned the strike and called for an end to attacks on places where children seek safety.

Angela Kearney, UNICEF’s acting representative in Sudan, said families could not protect their children simply by fleeing their homes or returning to their neighbourhoods.

“In West Kordofan, children were killed in a camp their families had fled to for safety. In Khartoum, three young children were reportedly killed with their father in their own neighbourhood, in a city where many families have returned to rebuild their lives,” Kearney said.

“Families in Sudan are doing everything they can to keep their children safe, whether by fleeing or by going home. Neither is protecting them. Every party to this conflict must protect children, wherever they are.”

UNICEF called on all parties to the conflict to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. Children must be protected at all times, wherever they are, the agency said.

The deaths come amid an escalation in drone attacks across Sudan, where the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has devastated communities and forced millions from their homes.

UNICEF said children continued to face deadly violence after more than three years of conflict, with displacement camps and residential areas alike failing to provide reliable protection.