Amnesty accuses Sudan government of using chemical weapons in Darfur

Rights group Amnesty International accused the Sudanese government on Thursday of launching chemical weapon attacks on its own civilians, killing hundreds of people including scores of children, in a mountainous area of war-torn Darfur.

Amnesty International said it has compiled the first credible body of evidence to suggest the forces of President Omar al-Bashir bombed swathes of the crisis-hit Jebel Marra region with chemical agents.

More than 30 such attacks are believed to have been carried out on several villages as part of a massive military campaign against rebels between January and September, Amnesty said.

Amnesty released photographs of horrific burn wounds on children

“Between 200 and 250 people may have died as a result of exposure to the chemical weapons agents, with many or most being children," the report said.

Those affected by the "poisonous smoke" vomit blood, struggle to breathe and watch as their skin falls off.

Amnesty released before-and-after satellite images, photographs of horrific burn wounds on children and evidence from more than 200 interviews, and called for a United Nations investigation.

The Sudanese government and rebels have been fighting in Darfur for 13 years yet the conflict and its toll on Darfur's citizens has fallen off the radar since 2004, when warnings of a potential genocide forced the outside world to act.