Violence from both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF (Rapid Support Forces) is being directed largely against the civilian population in vulnerable areas.
There is no indication that the warring parties are ready to give in. The RSF is expanding its offensive after capturing the 18-month-old besieged town of al-Fashir. Sudanese Defense Minister Hassan Kabroun said in a televised speech on Tuesday that the war continues.
Preparations are underway for the struggle of the Sudanese people, Kabroun said cryptically.
Nearly 50,000 dead
The independent American organization Acled (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data) has documented 1,545 deaths due to the war in October alone. The total number of dead and injured in October was around 3,000 people, according to Acled's calculations analyzed by the AFP news agency.
The previous highest death toll in a single month in the civil war between the two ruling factions was a year ago. In October 2024, the number of dead and injured was 3,240, of whom 966 were confirmed dead. At that time, the RSF escalated attacks on targets in the al-Jazira region of central Sudan.
According to Acled, the war has claimed nearly 49,800 lives. 15,300 of them were civilians attacked by the military. However, the organization notes that the civilian death toll could be significantly higher as many cases have not been documented.
The organization has also been able to distinguish the worst-affected regions: around 14,000 people have been killed in North Darfur, while around 11,200 have been killed in the capital region of Khartoum.
Famine strikes
The undercount is high, as few independent monitors can operate in the country. In addition, there is acute famine in vulnerable cities such as al-Fashir (El-Fasher) and in the RSF-besieged city of Kadugli in the Kordofan region.
Warnings are also coming that famine is hitting areas in Sudan. The UN-backed IPC (Food security phase classification) in Rome – which calculates the extent of hunger and famine disasters – says that famine is prevailing in al-Fashir and in the RSF-besieged town of Kadugli in the Kordofan region.
Another 20 regions in Sudan are threatened by acute food shortages, the IPC reports on its website.
