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Third Year of Sudan's War Leaves Children Bearing the Brunt of Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
As Sudan's civil war enters its fourth year, the UN reports over 13 million displaced and more than 4,300 children killed or maimed. Drone attacks on civilian infrastructure have intensified, with nearly 700 civilians killed in strikes in early 2026.
The reality for children in Sudan is growing darker by the hour, according to the UN children's agency, as the country's civil war enters its fourth year. The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has devastated the country and triggered a dire humanitarian emergency across East Africa.
Coverage Comparison
Reporting from Deutsche Welle (DW) indicates that fighting has spread across much of the country, devastating cities and displacing more than 13 million people, as reported by the World Health Organization. The coverage highlights that Darfur and Kordofan states have been the most affected areas, accounting for the highest number of civilian casualties.
Key Claims
Crisis for children: UNICEF reports that more than 4,300 children have been killed or maimed since the war began in April 2023, with Darfur and Kordofan states accounting for the highest numbers. "The reality for children in Sudan is growing darker hour by hour," UNICEF spokeswoman Eva Hinds said.
Drone warfare on civilians: According to DW's coverage, many deaths and injuries stem from indiscriminate drone attacks used by both the RSF and SAF. "Drones are killing and wounding girls and boys in their homes, in markets, on the roads, near schools and health facilities — all places that should never be targets," said UNICEF's Hinds.
Staggering civilian death toll: UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said that "in the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes," with both sides reportedly using the weapons to attack civilian infrastructure in an attempt to slow each other's advances.
Widespread destruction: The conflict has resulted in destroyed hospitals, roads, and schools, further worsening the plight of the civilian population. Ashan Abeywardena, emergency response manager at War Child, told DW that "going through three years of conflict has had a massive impact on these children and women. Children's daily lives are shaped by news of death and destruction."
Perspectives
The humanitarian impact extends well beyond Sudan's borders. DW's reporting notes that the effects of the war are being felt throughout East Africa, with the crisis creating ripple effects of displacement and instability across the region.
How this outlet told it
Deutsche Welle
Framing: Humanitarian crisis — Neutral
Facts Included:
Civil war in Sudan entered its fourth year
Conflict broke out in April 2023 between RSF and SAF
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimThe civil war in Sudan entered its fourth year. The conflict broke out in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) following the collapse of a fragile transition to civilian rule after Sudan's 2019 uprising.
ClaimMany of the deaths and injuries have been caused by indiscriminate drone attacks, a tool that is increasingly being used by both sides in the conflict.
ClaimThe effects of the war are being felt throughout East Africa, with displacement, disrupted trade routes, and political tensions weighing on neighboring countries.
ClaimThe United Nations' top official in the country, Denise Brown, said the crisis-ridden country has effectively been abandoned, with widespread atrocities documented by the UN, including systematic sexual violence, sieges that have left whole communities facing famine, and mass killings.
ClaimGermany hosted an international conference to raise funds to help those affected by the war, with €1.3 billion pledged, following the $1 billion raised at last year's donor conference in London.