KHARTOUM, Sudan
At least three children are dying every day in El-Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, due to malnutrition and disease, Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement Friday.
“For over a month, the humanitarian situation in the city of El Fasher has been deteriorating severely, with a rising number of child deaths due to acute food shortages and increasing cases of malnutrition, amid the absence of any signs of opening a humanitarian corridor that could save thousands of children,” said the statement released through US social media company X.
The network is “following with deep concern the tragic situation through our field teams in El Fasher. We affirm to the international community that the humanitarian situation has surpassed all comprehension due to the severe food and medicine crisis caused by the ongoing siege,” the statement added.
It continued: “Every passing day, we lose no fewer than three children as a result of malnutrition, disease, and the dire lack of medical and humanitarian resources.”
On Thursday, four UN agencies — the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF, the World Food Program, and the UN refugee agency — said in a joint statement that 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, are trapped in El-Fasher, cut off from food, water, and healthcare.
At least 239 children have died of hunger due to the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) siege of El-Fasher, grassroots committee El-Fasher Resistance Coordination said on Wednesday, without specifying the time period for those deaths.
The paramilitary RSF have been besieging El-Fasher since May 10, 2024, as the Sudanese army seeks to break the siege of the city, which serves as the humanitarian operations center for five Darfur states.
The Sudanese army and the RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
