GENEVA: 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 kilometers 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.
