Sudan crisis: Some 500 children starved to death amid escalating violence, charity warns

At least 498 children and “likely hundreds more” have been starved to death in four months of war between rival generals in Sudan, the NGO Save the Children reported.

The conflict between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have seen around 5,000 people killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, and more than 4 million have been uprooted. Among these, “at least 498 children in Sudan and likely hundreds more have died of starvation, including two dozen babies in a state orphanage,” Save the Children said in a statement. “Never did we think we would see children dying from hunger in such numbers, but this is now the reality in Sudan,” said the organization’s country director, Arif Noor.

The British charity said that it had been forced to close 57 of its nutrition facilities since the war began on April 15 and that stocks were running “critically low” in the 108 it still operates. The situation could get worse as the organization, unable to operate amid the fighting, had to stop treating “31,000 malnourished children”.

In May, the factory that produced 60% of nutritional treatments for children was destroyed. In a statement published last week, the heads of 20 international humanitarian organizations warned that “more than 6 million Sudanese people are one step away from famine.”