Shelling of Sudan school and market kills several children

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

When shells hit Al-Khansa Secondary School for Girls, and a crowded marketplace on August 14, in El Obeid city in Sudan's Kordofan state, five girls were killed and 20 children injured, according to the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF.

Likewise, on Sunday, a shell claimed the lives of two boys and injured at least eight others when it struck a UNICEF-supported child-friendly space in Al Hattana, Khartoum state.

These attacks, the statement issued by UNICEF Sudan representative, Sheldon Yett, observed, come in the wake of strikes against health facilities elsewhere in the African country.

Thousands of children killed and injured

Since the war began in April 2023, thousands of children have been killed or injured, the UN representative decries.

Moreover, many more have been exposed to other grave violations, including sexual violence and recruitment or use in the conflict.

From 2022 to 2023, a five-fold increase in grave violations against children was recorded, and widespread grave violations continue to be verified in 2024.       

More than 17 million out of school

In Sudan, most schools remain closed for the second school year in a row, and more than 17 million of the 19 million school-aged children are out of school.

Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 110 schools and hospitals have been attacked. In addition, hundreds of schools are being used as shelters for the internally displaced, constraining access to education in areas where schools have been partially opened.

Attacks on schools, the UN Children's Fund reiterated, represent a grave violation against children, noting that such attacks "disrupt and deprive children of their education," by preventing schools from providing safe environments for learning, and protecting vulnerable children from abuse and physical dangers.

Appeal to end attacks on schools and civilian facilities

UNICEF concluded its statement with an appeal for all parties "to end attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and health centres," and to take "all measures to protect children in line with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law."

"Attacks on schools, health facilities and other civilian objects," it declared, "must stop immediately.”