UNICEF says more than 300 children killed or injured in Sudan conflict in past six months

More than 300 children have been killed or injured in Sudan during the first six months of 2026, UNICEF said on Monday, underscoring the growing harm to civilians amid a war that has persisted since April 2023. The U.N. children’s agency said the toll reflects escalating attacks in areas affected by the fighting between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group now operating alongside and against government forces in multiple regions.

UNICEF’s figures, as reported by PBS NewsHour, point to widespread injuries and deaths in recent months, with the agency attributing a large share of the casualties to drone strikes. According to the AP reporting cited in the broader coverage, UNICEF assessed that drone warfare accounted for 60% of the children harmed in the period it reviewed, a finding that has raised additional alarm about the safety risks posed by remote weapons in populated areas.

The conflict continues to be concentrated across Sudan’s Kordofan, Darfur, and Blue Nile states, according to the AP report referencing UNICEF’s assessment. In its reporting, AP said UNICEF highlighted the lethality of strike patterns that can reach homes and other civilian infrastructure, even as the fighting also involves ground clashes and shelling.

The reporting also described mounting international concern about atrocities as RSF and the military struggle for control of strategic locations. AP said the war has intensified around el-Obeid, a city in North Kordofan, and that the United Nations and several governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have expressed alarm about potential serious abuses connected to the campaign for control of that area.

In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a measure Monday condemning escalating violence by the RSF and its allies in and around el-Obeid. The decision was approved without a vote and, according to AP, the text encourages greater support for countries hosting refugees from Sudan while condemning what it described as “all forms of external interference” in the conflict.

UNICEF’s statement arrives as Sudan’s humanitarian crisis has deepened over the course of the war. AP reporting cited broader figures on the conflict’s impact, including high death tolls, mass displacement, and humanitarian needs across multiple regions. UNICEF’s children-focused accounting adds another line to that record, concentrating on the vulnerability of children and the immediate, long-term effects of injuries that can complicate access to care in already overwhelmed health systems.

With UNICEF and the Human Rights Council both calling attention to the civilian harm tied to the latest phase of the war, the immediate next step for the international response is continued monitoring of attack patterns and compliance with protections for children and civilians. The Geneva measure and UNICEF’s reporting are likely to be used by humanitarian agencies and governments when determining priorities for assistance, protection activities, and diplomatic pressure related to the conflict’s conduct.