Sudan conflict: Children paying high price; 9 killed and over 50 injured in fighting so far
Geneva (Switzerland), April 24: At least 413 persons have died in the current Sudan conflict so far, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN children's agency said children were paying a high price, with at least nine reportedly killed in fighting and more than 50 badly injured, Turkish News Agency Anadolu reported.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told in a UN press conference that according to figures from the government in Sudan, 413 persons have died and 3,551 injured in the conflict. The fighting is part of the ongoing clashes between the country's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
She said there had been 11 verified attacks on health facilities since April 15.
"According to the Ministry of Health in Sudan, the number of health facilities that have stopped working is 20. And also, according to the Ministry of Health numbers, the number of health facilities at risk of stopping is 12," said Harris.
"So this means that all those people who need care, and this is not only the people who've been injured hearings, terrible fighting, but that the people who were needing treatment before and continuing treatment," are impacted, said the WHO spokesperson, Anadolu reported.
At the same press conference, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said, "Clearly, as ever, the fighting takes a devastating toll on children.
"We now have reports of at least nine children killed and at least 50 injured. Those numbers will continue to rise as long as fighting continues," he added.
Elder said large numbers of people were trapped and did not have access to electricity, Anadolu reported. "They're terrified of running out of food, water, and medicines," he said, adding, "One of our grave concerns is around hospitals that have come under fire."
Elder said Sudan already had one of the world's highest malnutrition rates among children.
"And we've now got a situation where critical life-saving support for around 50,000 children is at risk," said the UNICEF spokesperson.
The fighting also puts at risk "the cold chain" in Sudan, including over USD 40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to breaks in the power supply and the inability to restock generators with fuel, said Elder.
Elder said before the escalation in violence in Sudan, the humanitarian needs of children in the country were high, with three-quarters of children estimated to live in extreme poverty.
At the same time, 11.5 million children and community members needed emergency water and sanitation services, seven million children were out of school, and more than 600,000 children suffered from severe acute malnutrition.
Fighting erupted last Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in capital Khartoum and its surroundings, Anadolu reported.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in what political forces called a "coup."
- ANI
