At least 500 children died of starvation in Sudan since the start of the war: NGO

The non-governmental organization "Save the Children" reported on Tuesday that at least 498 children have died of hunger in Sudan during four months of conflict, with potentially hundreds more casualties.

Araf Nur, the organization's director in Sudan, warned in a statement that in a country where one-third of the population was already suffering from hunger before the war, "children are dying of hunger when it could have been entirely prevented."

He added that "at least 498 children in Sudan, and possibly hundreds more, have died of hunger" since the war began on April 15. "We never imagined seeing such a large number of children dying of hunger, but this is the new reality in Sudan."

The situation is expected to worsen as the organization was forced to halt its activities amid the fighting, and it has been unable to resume treating "31,000 malnourished children."

In May, the factory that produced 60% of children's nutritional supplements was destroyed.

The war, which experts fear could last for years, has resulted in the deaths of approximately 5,000 people since April 15, according to a report from the non-governmental organization Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

The conflict has also displaced over four million people.

Faced with this dire situation, the international community has fallen short in funding essential assistance for displaced people, refugees, the wounded, and other victims of sexual violence. International justice organizations are also concerned about the "war crimes" committed in Sudan.

Humanitarian workers, who have been prevented from entering or moving within the country or have been subjected to attacks, reiterate that they have received only 27% of their required funding.

On the ground, violence continued on Tuesday, especially in Khartoum and Darfur in the west of the country, an area sprawling with one-quarter of Sudan's population of about 48 million people.

The battles in the region have centered on Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, where since August 11, there have been "60 dead, 250 wounded, and 50,000 displaced," according to the United Nations.

The army reported that its commander in Nyala was killed on Monday.

While fighting prevents aid-laden trucks from reaching their destinations, the Turkish hospital, the only one still operating in Nyala, stated that it is receiving a large number of patients beyond its capacity.

Recently, the war has reached El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after Rapid Support Forces and Arab militias allied with them burned down at least 27 towns in Darfur, according to the US-based Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab.

Nathaniel Raymond, the lab's director, which collaborates with the Conflict Observatory, confirmed that "no one stands in the way of the Rapid Support Forces; they move freely while the army remains entrenched in its bases."



AFP