UNICEF: Children missing in West Darfur

SIRBA , Sudan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The United Nations Children's Fund said hundreds of children are unaccounted for following militia attacks on villages in Sudan's West Darfur region.

UNICEF said after an assessment mission to the towns of Sirba and Abu Surouj that initial reports of missing children after the government-backed militia attacks put the number at 800, but the actual number of missing children is likely lower than that estimate, the U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks reported Friday.

"There are an unknown number of children aged 12-18 who are missing, especially boys. Nobody knows what has happened to these children," said Naqibullah Safi, head of UNICEF for West Darfur.

The agency said its assessment team found thousands of residents had fled their homes in the towns after multiple buildings were burned.

"Initially people needed food and medicine, there were cases of malnutrition, but the most common problem was people were burned," Safi said. "There are some civilian casualties, but exact figures are not known. Most shelters in Sirba have been burned, and 60-70 percent of Abu Surouj."