Four children died in two separate incidents in Sirba and Jebel Moon locality in West Darfur on Tuesday and Wednesday, when grenades they discovered detonated.
The coordinator of the Sirba camps for displaced people told Radio Dabanga from Manjura in Jebel Moon that Adam Nimeiri Haj (13 years), Abdo Mohamed (12 years), and Haitham Ishag Adam (11 years) were herding goats in the area on Wednesday. They found an unexploded ordnance (UXO), which detonated as they started playing with it, the coordinator explained. They were killed on the spot.
An explosion of a remnant of war on Tuesday killed one child and seriously wounded another in Drankola in Sirba locality. The camp coordinator explained that the incident occurred when the two children were letting their camels graze in the area. “The injured child was transferred to El Geneina hospital for treatment.”
The coordinator appealed to the citizens and the local state authorities to speed up the cleaning of remnants of war from Darfur. He also appealed to families in the region to alert their children to stay away from any foreign item on the ground, and immediately inform the authorities in the event they find any.
Years of conflict have left Darfur littered with potentially deadly explosives and munitions. Radio Dabanga appeals to listeners throughout Darfur (and elsewhere in our reception area) not to touch any ‘unexploded’ grenades or other ammunition found in the field. Mark its position clearly to alert others, and report it immediately to a camp sheikh, Unamid and/or the local police.
File photo: An unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Darfur (by Jan Joseph Stok)