"UNICEF": A drone strike on a mosque in El Fasher kills 11 children and increases the suffering of civilians

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that at least 11 children were killed in an aerial drone strike targeting a mosque in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in Sudan, last Friday.

Local relief organizations and activists, along with the Sudanese army, accused the "Rapid Support Forces" of carrying out the attack during the dawn prayer, resulting in the deaths of at least 70 people. UNICEF's Executive Director, Catherine Russell, described the attack as "shocking and incomprehensible," noting that children aged between 6 and 15 were among the victims, in addition to a larger number injured.

Three doctors were also killed during the strike, according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate and the Sudan Doctors Network. Russell confirmed that the attack disrupted children's sense of safety and destroyed their families, explaining that the siege by the "Rapid Support Forces" on El Fasher made civilians, especially children, vulnerable to violence, food and water shortages, and lack of healthcare.

Antoine Gerard, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan at the United Nations, pointed to the ongoing attacks on civilians inside and outside El Fasher due to the siege and lack of safe routes, emphasizing the serious concern over targeting civilians and civilian buildings, including hospitals, schools, and mosques.

A worker from the Emergency Response Rooms organization stated that the strike completely destroyed the mosque and buried many bodies under the rubble, adding that the danger to civilians is escalating due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.

According to the World Health Organization, the war in Sudan has resulted in the deaths of at least 40,000 people and displaced around 12 million, with a real threat of famine for many of the population.