‘Devastating Toll’ Of Fighting In Sudan: Over 400 Killed, 3,500 Injured

Over 400 people have been killed and over 3,500 others have been injured in the fighting in Sudan, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, “Four hundred and thirteen people have died and 3,551 people have been injured … that we know of.” Citing Sudanese health ministry figures, the WHO spokeswoman said 20 health facilities had stopped functioning and 12 were at risk of stopping in the country.

This would affect “not only the people who have been injured during this terrible fighting, but the people who were needing treatment before”, the spokeswoman said.

United Nations children’s agency UNICEF informed that at least nine children were among the dead. More than 50 children had been wounded, the agency informed.

“It’s taking a devastating toll on the country’s children. As long as fighting continues, children will continue to pay the price. The fighting means many families are trapped, with little or no access to electricity, terrified of running out of food, water and medicine,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder said.

Sudan already had one of the world’s highest rates of child malnutrition and owing to the conflict critical life-saving care has now been disrupted, he said.

“This is life-threatening,” he said, adding, the most critical cases are “being fed with tubes because that’s literally the only way they can be fed. When the bombing or shelling begins outside the hospital and where medical staff need to flee, then what?”

He also warned that the fighting was putting cold storage of more than $40 million worth of vaccines and insulin at risk.

“We need forces to immediately cease hostilities and for all parties to respect their international obligations to protect children from harm,” he said.