KHARTOUM, July 6– At least 330 children were killed or injured in Sudan during the first six months of 2026, with Darfur and Kordofan states recording the highest number of child casualties, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Monday.
“Children across Sudan continue to bear the brunt of a war that is becoming increasingly deadly,” UNICEF said in a press release. The situation in and around El Obeid in North Kordofan is particularly alarming, with drone strikes and other attacks reportedly causing more than 35 child casualties since May, including at least 18 killed, it said.
Drone attacks accounted for 60 percent of these casualties, and an estimated 500,000 civilians are at risk in the area, it said. “For many children, there is no safe place left … children must never be a target,” it quoted UNICEF Representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett as saying.
It urged all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and allow safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access. Since the conflict broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, nearly 5 million Sudanese children have been displaced, according to a mid-April UNICEF press release.
Around 4.2 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, and about 8 million are out of school, it added. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
