UN agency urges probe after 11 children slaughtered in Sudan mosque attack that kills 75

​​​​​​​By Adel Abdelraheem and Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Monday that 11 children were killed in an attack on a mosque in western Sudan which left 75 people dead.

The agency urged a prompt and thorough investigation.

The Sudanese army accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on Friday of carrying out a drone strike on the Al-Safiya mosque in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, killing more than 75 worshippers. The RSF had not commented as of Monday evening.

“Initial reports indicate that at least 11 children, aged 6 to 15, were killed in the deadly attack, which hit not only the mosque, but also adjacent homes. Many more children were injured,” according to UNICEF’s chief, Catherine Russell, in a statement on the US social media company, X.

“For more than 500 days, children in Al Fasher have endured a relentless siege by the Rapid Support Forces,” she wrote. “Children are trapped by violence, with little access to food, clean water and healthcare, and forced to witness horrors no child should ever see,” she added.

“It is outrageous that children continue to be killed, maimed, and traumatized in a conflict they did not start and cannot control,” said Russell.

She said that “all parties to this conflict must end these attacks, fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law, and ensure the protection of children at all times.”

“Children’s lives are at stake, and impunity cannot be tolerated. There must be a prompt and thorough investigation into these atrocities, and those responsible must be held fully accountable.”

Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council condemned the mosque attack as “a crime that shames humanity.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan also condemned the targeting of the mosque, and urged an investigation.

The RSF has imposed a blockade on El-Fasher since May 10, 2024, despite international warnings about the dangers to the city, which is a hub for humanitarian operations in the five Darfur states.

Since April 2023, clashes between Sudanese army forces and the RSF have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 15 million, according to the UN and authorities, while a study by American universities estimates the death toll at approximately 130,000.