UNITED NATIONS, United States: At least 40 children were killed by bombings over three days in several parts of Sudan, a UNICEF official said Wednesday, calling it a “stark” example of the threats facing young people in the war-torn country.
“Sadly, it is rare that more than a few short days go past without new reports of children being killed and injured,” Annmarie Swai, the UN children agency’s representative in Sudan, said in a statement.
She referred to strikes in the southern city of Kadugli on Monday which killed 21 children and maimed 29 others, as well as reports of at least 11 children killed in the bombing of a livestock market in El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state.
Eight more children were reportedly killed in a strike on a market near the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, Swai said.
“At least 40 children reportedly killed across just three days, in three separate areas of the country. This is a stark illustration of the devastating — and growing — threats to children in Sudan,” she said.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a fierce power struggle since April 2023, with the fighting intensifying this month as the army seeks to reclaim the capital.
Both have been repeatedly accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
Swai did not say which party was responsible for the deadly bombings on the 40 children.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and uprooted more than 12 million people.
The United Nations has recorded more than 900 “grave violations” against children between June and December 2024 — mainly children killed or injured in Darfur, Khartoum and Al-Jazira states.
“Children in Sudan are paying the ultimate price of the relentless fighting,” Swai said, calling for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and to cease fighting.
At least 40 children killed in Sudan over three days: UNICEF
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At least 40 children killed in Sudan over three days: UNICEF
- Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a fierce power struggle since April 2023, with the fighting intensifying this month as the army seeks to reclaim the capital
UN-sanctioned migrant smuggler killed in western Libya
- Libyan authorities report that a notorious militia leader, Ahmed Oumar Al-Fitouri Al-Dabbashi, was killed in a raid by security forces on Friday
- In 2018, the UN and US sanctioned him for controlling migrant departure areas and exposing migrants to fatal conditions
CAIRO: A notorious militia leader in Libya, sanctioned by the UN for migrant trafficking across the Mediterranean Sea, was killed on Friday in a raid by security forces in the west of the country, according to Libyan authorities.
Ahmed Oumar Al-Fitouri Al-Dabbashi, nicknamed Ammu, was killed in the western city of Sabratha when security forces raided his hideout. The raid came in response to an attack on a security outpost by Al-Dabbashi’s militia, which left six members of the security forces severely wounded, according to a statement issued by the Security Threat Enforcement Agency, a security entity affiliated with Libya’s western government.
Al-Dabbashi, who was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for trafficking, was the leader of a powerful militia, the “Brigade of the Martyr Anas Al-Dabbashi,” in Sabratha, the biggest launching point in Libya for Europe-bound African migrants.
Al-Dabbashi’s brother Saleh Al-Dabbashi, another alleged trafficker, was arrested in the same raid, added the statement.
In June 2018, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Dabbashi, along with another five Libyan traffickers. At the time, the UN report said that there was enough evidence that Al-Dabbashi’s militia controlled departure areas for migrants, camps, safe houses and boats.
Al-Dabbashi himself exposed migrants, including children, to “fatal circumstances” on land and at sea, and of threatening peace and stability in Libya and neighboring countries, according to the same report.
Al-Dabbashi was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for the same reason.
Libya has been a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The country was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
The country has been fragmented for years between rival administrations based in the east and the west of Libya, each backed by various armed militias and foreign governments.
