Escalating violence between rival military forces in Sudan is putting millions of children at risk, UNICEF warns as the fighting continues for a sixth day.
The battles between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have had a “devastating toll on the country’s children”, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on Thursday.
At least nine children have reportedly been killed and more than 50 wounded since the conflict broke out on Saturday, the statement said.
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“We have received reports of children sheltering in schools and care centres while fighting rages around them, of children’s hospitals forced to evacuate as shelling moves closer, and hospitals, health centres and other critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed,” Russell said.
The United Nations children’s agency said the fighting has worsened the situation of vulnerable children in the country. More than 50,000 severely malnourished children are no longer receiving the care they need, it said.