At least 12 children, some as young as two, have reportedly been killed in separate attacks in Sudan’s capital Khartoum and West Kordofan state, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
The deaths come amid a sharp escalation in drone attacks across Sudan, with residential areas, displacement shelters and civilian infrastructure increasingly exposed to violence as the country’s devastating war continues.
According to UNICEF, nine children were killed on October 17 when an attack struck a camp sheltering displaced families east of Sanakit in West Kordofan. The victims included five boys and four girls between the ages of five and 10.
Two days later, on October 19, an armed drone struck a residential neighbourhood in Khartoum, reportedly killing three children aged between two and six, along with their father. The children were identified as two girls and one boy.
The incidents highlight the growing dangers facing civilians, including families who have fled fighting and those attempting to return to their homes after years of displacement.
Angela Kearney, UNICEF’s acting representative in Sudan, said the killings demonstrated that neither displacement nor returning home offered families protection from the conflict.
She noted that children in West Kordofan had been killed in a camp where their families had sought refuge, while the three children in Khartoum died in a neighbourhood where residents were attempting to rebuild their lives.
The latest deaths come as drone warfare intensifies across several Sudanese states, including Khartoum, Kordofan and Darfur, raising concerns over the expanding use of aerial weapons in densely populated civilian areas.
Sudan’s conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has displaced millions of people and left children particularly vulnerable to violence, hunger and the collapse of essential services.
UNICEF renewed its appeal to all parties involved in the fighting to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians, particularly children.
The agency stressed that residential communities, displacement camps and civilian facilities must be protected from attacks, warning that Sudanese families continue to face deadly threats regardless of where they seek safety.
