23 children die of malnutrition in Sudan’s Kordofan amid worsening famine
AP :
Twenty-three children died from malnutrition-related causes within a month in Sudan’s Kordofan region, a medical group said, highlighting the severe humanitarian collapse as fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensifies.
The Sudan Doctors Network said the deaths occurred between October 20 and November 20 in the besieged city of Kadugli and the town of Dilling.
It blamed “severe acute malnutrition” and a chronic shortage of essential food and medical supplies, worsened by a blockade that has cut off aid to thousands of civilians.
Famine was officially declared in Kadugli earlier this month. RSF fighters have surrounded the area for months, trapping tens of thousands of residents as they attempt to seize more territory from the Sudanese military.
Dilling, also in South Kordofan, is facing similar hunger conditions, although not officially classified as famine due to missing data.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and the RSF erupted into nationwide fighting.
More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to U.N. estimates – a figure aid agencies say is likely far higher – and over 14 million people have been displaced.
Disease outbreaks, mass displacement and widespread hunger have pushed parts of the country into catastrophic famine.
As of September, about 370,000 people in Kordofan and Darfur were already in famine conditions, with another 3.6 million on the brink, according to international hunger assessments.
The conflict intensified this year after the military pushed the RSF out of Khartoum.
The paramilitary force shifted its focus to Kordofan and the Darfur region, capturing the strategic city of el-Fasher earlier this month.
Aid groups and U.N. officials say the takeover triggered mass atrocities, forcing tens of thousands to flee to overcrowded displacement camps.
The World Health Organization reported that RSF fighters killed more than 450 people inside the Saudi Hospital in el-Fasher.
Survivors and aid workers say fighters also went door to door, killing civilians and committing sexual violence.
New satellite images reviewed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab suggest ongoing efforts by RSF forces to dispose of bodies in el-Fasher, including at the Saudi Hospital grounds and in a nearby neighborhood where mass killings were previously reported.
The lab warned that the combination of apparent body disposal, the absence of traditional burials and a collapse of normal life raises serious concerns for civilians still trapped in the city.
It said it is highly likely that most residents present before the RSF assault on October 26 “have been killed, have died, are detained, are in hiding, have fled, or are otherwise unable to move freely.”