At least 95 people, mostly children and elderly, have died from hunger and disease over the past 40 days in Abu Shouk displacement camp in El Fasher, western Sudan, according to volunteer groups.

In a statement released Sunday, the Abu Shouk Camp Emergency Room reported that 73 children under the age of five and 22 elderly individuals had succumbed to malnutrition and illness, underscoring the worsening humanitarian situation in the war-torn city.

“The security and humanitarian situation in El Fasher remains dire, with residents facing severe shortages of food, water, and healthcare, especially displaced people cut off from aid and basic services,” the statement said. The group also warned of a looming health disaster, noting that unburied bodies were scattered across the city amid ongoing violence. It urged international organizations to establish safe humanitarian corridors for civilians seeking to flee the fighting.

The Coordination of Resistance Committees in El Fasher confirmed the deaths and described a sharp deterioration in living conditions. The group cited continued shelling, the collapse of basic services, and the shutdown of most charity kitchens due to lack of funding and soaring food prices.

The Sudan Doctors Network, a non-governmental medical organization, also reported on Thursday that 23 children and women had died of malnutrition in El Fasher during the month of September. In July, the group said 239 children had died in the city since January from preventable causes linked to food and medicine shortages.

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has been at the center of violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May 2024. Fighting in recent days has intensified, trapping civilians in increasingly desperate conditions.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when battles between the SAF and RSF erupted nationwide. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, deepening what the United Nations has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. (ILKHA)