Drones Behind Two Thirds Of Child Casualties In Sudan — UN

Two thirds of all children killed or injured in war-ravaged Sudan this year have been victims of drone strikes, the United Nations said Tuesday.

A total of 410 children were killed or injured in the country between January and September this year, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said.

And two-thirds of those casualties, an estimated 270, were caused by armed drones, UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

“They are bringing the war to places that were once safe,” he said, adding that people in Sudan “talk about three things: safety, education and water. Armed drones are taking all three”.

The war raging since April 2023 between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the regular army has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and has triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

As front lines have solidified, both sides have increasingly relied on drones capable of striking targets hundreds of kilometres away without risking their fighters.

More than 1,100 people were killed in drone attacks across Sudan during the first half of the year, according to the United Nations.

Elder said an escalation in drones targeting civilian infrastructure is also deepening the devastation wrought by the drought gripping Sudan.

“Drones and drought are closing in on Sudan’s children from both sides,” he warned.

In October alone, as many as 15 drone strikes hit power stations across the country, Elder said.

When a power station is struck, “water pumps stop and water treatment stops. Families are forced onto expensive and unsafe alternatives”, Elder said, putting people at risk of water-borne diseases like cholera.

An estimated 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition this year, he warned.

Unicef and its partners have provided healthcare and vaccinations to millions of children in Sudan, and repaired and solarised water systems, Elder said.

“But with so many crises at once, everything is stretched to breaking point,” he warned, adding that the agency’s operations in Sudan were just one-third funded.