At least 239 children have died in western Sudan’s El Fasher city since January, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which blames a combination of siege conditions, malnutrition, and medical supply shortages for the growing death toll.
In a public statement, the network said its medical team documented the child deaths between January and June in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state. The city has been under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese army since April 2023.
“The Network deeply regrets the international community’s continued neglect of Darfur’s children, who have endured more than a year under siege,” the statement said.
The network also warned of “escalating hunger and the continued targeting of children’s nutrition warehouses in El Fasher,” adding that the area faces “an almost total absence of food and medical supplies, along with unaffordable prices for basic necessities.”
It issued an urgent appeal to save remaining civilians trapped in the city:
“Immediate action is needed to open humanitarian corridors, allow the delivery of emergency aid and medical supplies, and lift the siege that has gripped El Fasher for over a year.”
The network urged international and regional actors “to put pressure on the Rapid Support Forces to accept and implement the truce proposed by the UN Secretary-General.”
That truce proposal was acknowledged by Sudan’s Sovereign Council, whose leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan approved a seven-day ceasefire following a phone call from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The council confirmed Burhan’s approval but did not specify when the ceasefire would begin.
The RSF has not issued any comment as of Monday.
With humanitarian agencies blocked and aid delivery suspended, El Fasher remains the focal point of what observers describe as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today.