A new study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group has reported that over 61,000 people have died in Khartoum state alone since Sudan’s civil war erupted last year—a figure much higher than previous estimates.
Of these, 26,000 were direct casualties of violence, while the majority succumbed to preventable diseases and starvation.
The conflict’s toll extends beyond Khartoum. In Darfur, widespread atrocities and reports of ethnic cleansing have driven the death toll even higher, exacerbating what aid workers call the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Thousands face famine conditions, and the death count, largely unrecorded due to ongoing chaos, far exceeds the 20,000 previously cited by UN and aid agencies.
The study coincides with allegations that French-made military technology is being used in Sudan’s conflict, breaching a UN arms embargo. Amnesty International claims that vehicles equipped with French hardware—supplied by the United Arab Emirates—are actively used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in Darfur. Amnesty’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, stated that the weaponry could be facilitating serious human rights abuses, urging France to halt further exports.
Photos obtained by Amnesty reveal RSF vehicles fitted with the French Galix defence system, designed by companies KNDS and Lacroix to counter close-range attacks. The rights group has pressed France to prevent the re-export of these systems to Sudan and recommended an expansion of the UN arms embargo to cover all of Sudan.
Sudan’s civil war, which began in April 2023, pits the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, against the national army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The conflict has resulted in accusations of war crimes on both sides, displacing millions and exacerbating famine conditions in Darfur, where the UN recently confirmed famine in some areas.
The Sudan Research Group found that 90% of deaths in Khartoum remain unrecorded, a situation likely mirrored in other regions. Lead researcher Mayson Dahab acknowledged the challenge of assessing mortality across the entire country, given limited data.
