More than 61,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Khartoum state during the first 14 months of Sudan’s war, with evidence suggesting the total number is much higher than previously recorded, according to a new report by researchers in Britain and Sudan.

Some 26,000 people are estimated to have died from serious violence-related injuries, a higher figure than the UN currently cites for the entire country.

The draft study, released by the Sudan Research Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Wednesday ahead of peer review, suggests that starvation and disease have become the leading causes of deaths reported across Sudan.

The researchers said estimates of the number of deaths from all causes in Khartoum state are 50 percent higher than the nationwide average before the start of the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

Researchers say that even in times of peace, not many deaths are recorded in Sudan. As the fighting has intensified, residents have been cut off from access to places that record deaths, such as hospitals, morgues and cemeteries. Frequent internet and telecommunications outages have also cut off millions from the outside world. The researchers wrote: “Our findings suggest that deaths have remained largely unmonitored. Counting the number of people killed is a challenge in a war.

Reuters