Sudan War Death Toll: Shocking Figures

A new report by researchers in Britain and Sudan reveals that over 61,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Khartoum state during the first 14 months of the war in Sudan, with evidence suggesting that the overall death toll may be much higher than previously recorded.

These estimates include around 26,000 deaths from severe injuries due to violence—a figure surpassing the current United Nations tally for the entire country.

According to a draft study released Wednesday by the Sudan Research Group at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, starvation and disease have become major causes of reported deaths across Sudan.

The researchers note that estimated mortality figures for Khartoum state are 50% higher than the national average recorded before the outbreak of war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

The United Nations reports that the conflict has displaced 11 million people and caused the world’s largest hunger crisis. Nearly 25 million people—almost half of Sudan’s population—now require aid, with famine already present in at least one camp for internally displaced persons.

Counting fatalities in a war zone presents many challenges. Researchers note that even in peacetime, many deaths go unrecorded in Sudan. As fighting has intensified, access to hospitals, morgues, and burial sites has become severely limited. Frequent internet and communication outages have also isolated millions from the outside world.

Maysan Dahab, an epidemiologist and co-director of the Sudan Research Group who led the study, explained that the researchers aimed to “track the unrecorded deaths” using a method called “capture and recapture.”

Using data from at least two independent sources, the researchers searched for individuals who appeared on multiple lists. The less overlap between lists, the higher the likelihood of unrecorded deaths—information that helps estimate the total number of fatalities.

The researchers compiled three lists of deceased individuals:

The first list was based on a social media survey conducted from November 2023 to June 2024.

The second list used community activists and “study ambassadors” who distributed the survey directly within their networks.

The third list came from obituary posts on social media—a common practice in the Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri areas, which together comprise the Sudanese capital region.

“Our findings suggest that deaths have largely gone unrecorded,” the researchers wrote.

The deaths recorded by the three lists represent only 5% of the estimated total deaths in Khartoum state, with just 7% attributed to “intentional injuries.” The study suggests that other war-affected regions in Sudan may have experienced similar or worse losses.

Dahab noted that the researchers lacked sufficient data to estimate mortality rates in other areas or determine the total number of deaths attributable to the war.

A representative from the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA), an organization providing free healthcare across Sudan, found the findings credible.

“The actual number might be even higher,” said program director Abdel Azim Awadallah to Reuters, adding that malnutrition-induced weakened immunity makes people more susceptible to infections, with “even simple diseases becoming fatal.”

The study was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Residents reported that hundreds of graves have appeared near homes throughout Greater Khartoum since last year. As the army has regained control of some neighborhoods, they have begun transferring bodies to the main cemetery in Omdurman.