2.3.4. Civilian casualties

As of December 2024, there were no reliable statistics available on direct and indirect conflict deaths. For more information on the difficulty of reporting and obtaining data in the conflict see sections 1.1.4 Security incidents and civilian deaths estimates and section ‎1.3.2 Communication and media presence.

A November 2024 report by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found that in Khartoum State alone, 90 % of fatalities went unrecorded, mainly attributing this to the lack in infrastructure needed to document the data.800 Based on this report, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) argued that taking Khartoum’s estimated 90 % as an indication, the death toll especially in the Kordofans was probably far higher than recorded.801
 
Among the most significant security incidents affecting civilians were RSF attacks on villages and SAF airstrikes.802 Several attacks against civilians by RSF troops were reported in the Kordofans during the reference period: in February 2024, RSF troops stormed villages near Habila, South Kordofan, reportedly killing dozens of people and burning down several villages.803 According to ACLED, many of the killed residents were Nuba, who have traditionally been recruited into either the SAF or the SPLM-N-al-Hilu.804 According to a statement signed by 11 Sudanese civil society organisations, atrocities committed by the RSF in Habila and the surrounding area near Dilling included the killing of more than 76 civilians, the kidnapping of women and girls, some of whom were released and reported sexual violence, and the forced disappearance of dozens of men and boys.805 In October 2024, at least 20 people were killed in an RSF attack on a village in the countryside of El Obeid, North Kordofan.806 Later that same month, RSF troops reportedly attacked Donki al-Hur locality in West Kordofan, resulting in multiple casualties.807

SAF airstrikes hitting residential areas or civilian infrastructure were reported throughout the reference period in West Kordofan,808 South Kordofan809 and North Kordofan.810 On 14 March 2024, the SAF bombed a school in the Hadra area in South Kordofan, leading to the death of 11 children and 2 teachers.811 The SAF in October 2024 bombed RSF-controlled Hamrat Al-Sheikh, 290 km northwest of El Obeid and far away from any frontline, causing 30 civilian deaths and injuries to more than 100 people.812 The airstrike reportedly targeted a crowded market in the town centre.813 The town had previously been bombed in February 2024, reportedly targeting an RSF gathering, but leading to civilian casualties according to the rights group Emergency lawyers.814 Following the RSF takeover of control of Al-Fula in West Kordofan, the SAF employed artillery and airstrikes targeting the city, causing dozens of civilian casualties.815

In August 2024, a local SPLM-N-al-Hilu leader warned of famine in the Nuba mountains, with over 20 % of the population severely undernourished and more than 30 % of children malnourished. He attributed the famine to a bad harvest, airstrikes, and battles between the SAF and the RSF disrupting farming activities, while the SPLM-N-controlled areas had taken in an estimated over one million IDPs since the beginning of the conflict.816 Later that same month, the civil authority of the SPLM-N-al-Hilu reported 109 deaths in areas under its control in South Kordofan and Blue Nile resulting from starvation.817 By October 2024, the SPLM-N authorities stated that 646 people in the Nuba mountains had lost their lives due to starvation, while more than 52 000 people suffered from malnutrition.818 In December 2024, the Famine Review Committee (FRC) based on field assessments reported deaths of children and adults in IDP camps and clinics in West and South Kordofan as a result of starvation.819 There were reports of deaths in Dilling and Habila locality in South Kordofan, as the blocking of roads by the warring parties made it impossible for locals to access health services.820

From 1 February 2024 to 30 November 2024, ACLED observed 367 security incidents in the Kordofans with a total estimate of 1 514 fatalities. During that same time, 59 fatalities were recorded in the Abyei region.821 

Figure 11: Fatalities as a result of armed conflict in Kordofan region, 1 February 2024 – 30 November 2024, based on ACLED data822