Death toll in Sudan’s war ‘vastly undercounted’

A new study has revealed that the number of people killed in Sudan’s ongoing war is dramatically higher than earlier estimates, with over 61,000 deaths recorded in Khartoum state alone. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group published the findings on Tuesday, uncovering the devastating human cost of the conflict.

The study shows that 26,000 people were killed by violence in Khartoum since the war began in April 2023. The rest died from preventable diseases and starvation, as Sudan’s healthcare system crumbled and food supplies collapsed.

According to the research, the death toll in Khartoum is more than three times the figure cited by the United Nations, which had previously estimated 20,000 fatalities across the whole country.

The report also highlights, that parts, especially Darfur and Kordofan, have suffered even higher death rates. Violence accounts for 80 per cent of deaths in Kordofan and 69 per cent in Darfur, where atrocities including ethnic cleansing have been reported.

“Over 90 per cent of deaths in Khartoum have gone unrecorded,” said Dr Maysoon Dahab, the lead researcher. “This suggests that the true scale of deaths across Sudan is far higher than we can currently quantify.”

Researchers also warned of significant underreporting in rural areas, where communications and electricity have been cut off. “Sudan’s war is not just a single conflict; it’s multiple wars within one,” Dr Dahab added.

Read the full report here: War-Time Mortality in Sudan: A Capture-Recapture Analysis