At least 413 people have been killed in the conflict in Sudan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while the UN children’s agency has said that children are paying a high price, with at least nine reportedly killed in the fighting so far and more than 50 badly injured, reported Turkish news agency Anadolu.
According to figures from the Sudanese government, 413 people have died and 3,551 have been injured so far in the conflict, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris informed in a UN press conference. The ongoing fighting is a part of clashes between the African nation’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
There have been 11 verified attacks on health facilities so far including 10 since April 15, said Margaret Harris.
She said, “According to the Ministry of Health in Sudan, the number of health facilities that have stopped working is 20. And also, according to Ministry of Health numbers, the number of health facilities at risk of stopping is 12.”
“So this means that all those people who need care, and this is not only the people who've been injured hearings, terrible fighting, but that the people who were needing treatment before and continuing treatment,” are impacted, added Harris, Anadolu reported.
Meanwhile, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder in the same press conference said, “Clearly, as ever, the fighting takes a devastating toll on children.”
“We now have reports of at least nine children killed and at least 50 injured. Those numbers will continue to rise as long as fighting continues,” he added.
According to him, large numbers of people are trapped and do not have access to electricity, reported Anadolu.
Elder said, “They're terrified of running out of food, water, and medicines,” adding, “One of our grave concerns is around hospitals that have come under fire.”
He further said that Sudan already had one of the world’s highest malnutrition rates among children. “
Elder said Sudan already had one of the world's highest malnutrition rates among children. “And we've now got a situation where critical life-saving support for around 50,000 children is at risk,” mentioned the UNICEF spokesperson.
Moreover, the fighting also puts at risk “the cold chain” in Sudan, including over USD 40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to breaks in the power supply and the inability to restock generators with fuel, told Elder.
Children are taking shelter in schools and care centres while fighting goes on around them and of children’s hospitals forced to evacuate as shelling moves closer, Anadolu reported citing UNICEF.
Before the escalation of violence in Sudan, the humanitarian needs of the children in the country were high, with an estimated three-quarters of children living in extreme poverty, Elder said.
Similarly, 11.5 million children and community members needed emergency water and sanitation services, seven million children were out of schools and more than 6,00,000 children suffered from severe acute malnutrition.
It may be noted that the fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and paramilitary RSF last Saturday in the capital Khartoum and its surroundings regions, Anadolu reported.
Once the largest country in Africa by landmass, Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a “coup” as termed by the political forces.
