Sudan war death toll over 40,000 as 2 million face imminent starvation

The deadly war that has been raging between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for more than a year now has left more than 40,000 people dead, according to new figures published Wednesday, as the humanitarian crisis in the country reaches catastrophic levels.

Speaking to the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat, spokesperson for the independent Sudan Doctors Union Ahmed Abbas said the figure includes 20,000 people killed in direct clashes across the country, another 4,000 in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and 16,000 who have perished due to lack of medical care and starvation.

Abbas believes the overall figure could be higher, as many deaths are unreported.

The heavy fighting and lack of access to some areas of Sudan have made it difficult to count the casualties. While UN aid agencies estimate that more than 15,000 people have been killed since the war began, US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said earlier this month that the number may be as high as 150,000.

Sudan has been grappling with a devastating war since a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF escalated into armed conflict on April 15, 2023. The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement crisis, with around 12 million people forced to flee their homes inside Sudan — 10 million are internally displaced, while the other 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN International Organization for Migration.

The International Rescue Committee decried the “lack of attention” of military decision-makers, regional powers and the international community, accusing them of failing the Sudanese people.

The aid group said in a crisis alert issued on Tuesday that the world’s silence over the crisis in Sudan has resulted “in an ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe” that has left more than half the population — nearly 25 million people — in need of humanitarian aid.

“The international community’s continued and collective failure of Sudan means there is limited time to avert a catastrophe of historic scale,” IRC warned.

Aid groups are also sounding the alarm over widespread famine. Citing some Tuesday, CBS News said that 2 million people in Sudan could die of starvation if the crisis is not addressed and the distribution of aid continues to be hindered.

The World Food Programme estimates that 17.7 million people in the country are facing acute hunger, among them nearly 5 million at emergency levels.

In his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Abbas warned of the collapse of the health sector in war-stricken Sudan.

He said that 28 hospitals and health centers have been destroyed in the conflict, while 22 medical facilities were forced to evacuate, leaving 80% of health care facilities "non-functional" while "the rest lack essential supplies and medications amid ongoing water and electricity outages.”

Abbas said the health situation in el-Fasher, where fighting between the SAF and RSF is raging, is “extremely critical.”

“More civilians will die without urgent help,” he was quoted as saying.

The fighting in el-Fasher has escalated since April after the RSF, which controls most of Darfur, laid siege to the city.

One of the city’s last functioning hospitals, the South Hospital, was forced to shut down earlier this month after RSF fighters stormed the facility and opened fire at medical staff and patients.

On Tuesday the governor of Darfur, Minni Minawi, reported the destruction of the Iqra Hospital in the city in artillery shelling by the RSF.

At least five civilians were killed in RSF shelling on a displacement camp in el-Fasher on Tuesday, according to local reports.