Nine killed, including three children, in landmine explosion in Sudan
Nine people have been killed, including three children, in a landmine explosion in Kordofan, Sudan, on Sunday 22 February.
According to Arab News, a medical source speaking to AFP said that the group had been riding in a tuk-tuk along a road in the frontline region when they hit a landmine.
Speaking to AFP, witness Abdelbagi Issa said the vehicle was reduced to a "metal carcass" by the explosion. "We were walking behind the tuk-tuk along the road to the market when we heard the sound of an explosion. People fell to the ground and the tuk-tuk was destroyed."
The Kordofan region of Sudan has become the centre of fighting in the nearly three-year war since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forced the Sudanese army out of its last foothold in the neighbouring Darfur region late last year.
The war, which began in April 2023, has left Sudan strewn with mines and unexploded ordnance, however Arab News writes that the landmine that caused Sunday’s deaths could also have dated back to previous rebellions in South Kordofan state since 2011.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 11 million have fled their homes since the civil war began in April 2023, triggering a dire humanitarian crisis. The country is "effectively" split in two, writes Arab News, with the Sudanese army holding the north, centre and east while the RSF and its allies control the west and parts of the south.
