Sudan War: Childhood burning in the fire of war .. 500 innocents died of hunger, this reality will shake

Sudan Crisis: Nearly 500 children have died of hunger in Sudan since the fighting began in the East African country in April. Including two dozen children of the government-run orphanage in the capital Khartoum. A major aid group gave this information on Tuesday. Save the Children also said that at least 31,000 children have been left without access to treatment for malnutrition and related diseases, as the charity was forced to close its 57 nutrition centers in Sudan.

Open fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15, sparking chaos after months of tensions between the army and a rival paramilitary force. The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into a battlefield. Many residents are forced to live without water and electricity, while the country's health care system has nearly collapsed.

Arif Noor, director of Save the Children in Sudan, said, “We never thought we would see so many children dying of hunger, but this is what is happening in Sudan now. We are seeing children dying in situations that were completely preventable."

According to Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights Office, at least 4,000 people are estimated to have died in the violence in Sudan. Activists and doctors working on the ground say that the death toll is likely to be much higher. According to the United Nations Migration Agency, more than 4.4 million people were forced to flee their homes either to safer areas in Sudan or to neighboring countries.

Save the Children said that between May and July, at least 316 children, most of them under the age of five, died of malnutrition or related diseases in southern White Nile province. She said more than 2,400 children had been admitted to hospitals with severe malnutrition - the deadliest form of malnutrition - in the past eight months.

In eastern Kadrif province, at least 132 children died of malnutrition in a government-run children's hospital between April and July. The charity said at least 50 children, including two dozen infants at an orphanage in Khartoum, died of hunger or related diseases in the first six weeks of the conflict. A major reason for this is that because of the fighting, the staff of 'Save the Children' could not reach there to take care of them.

(with agency inputs)