UNICEF: Drone Strikes Account for Two-Thirds of Children Killed and Injured in Sudan

A spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday that drone strikes were responsible for the deaths and injuries of two-thirds of child victims of the war in Sudan during the current year.

The use of drones has emerged as an escalating trend in attacks targeting markets, hospitals, electricity stations, water sources, and displacement sites, amid an increasing frequency of drone strikes behind the front lines of the conflict, which erupted in April 2023.

Speaking at a press conference held at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva following his visit to Sudan, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said: “Drones accounted for two-thirds of the children killed and injured this year.”

He noted that 15 electricity stations had been attacked during the previous month, describing these geographically widespread and rapidly escalating attacks as a serious intensification of strikes against civilian infrastructure.

“Let me explain why the combination of drones and drought is deadly for children. Electricity means access to water. When a power station is bombed, water pumps stop working and water treatment operations come to a halt, forcing families to resort to costly and unsafe alternatives. Diseases then spread.”