30 newborn babies died since Sudan fighting began: UN

At least 30 newborn babies have tragically died in hospitals since the fighting erupted in Sudan last month, according to the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Six newborns were killed in a week alone in the city of Eld'aeen in East Darfur, where the violence has exacerbated electricity blackouts and the supply of oxygen in hospitals. 

Sudan’s health sector has been devastated due to the recent fighting, as Sudan’s military battles the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the streets of its major cities, including Khartoum. 

Multiple efforts at ceasefires have failed, as humanitarian organisations struggle to provide help to the millions who have been affected. 

Devastating news from East Darfur: Six newborn babies died at a hospital there recently, due to problems including lack of oxygen amid electricity blackouts, per UN agencies. That was in just one week; WHO says since the fighting in #Sudan started, 30 have died at the hospital. https://t.co/4xMFuKXzvT

— Amanda Price (@amandaruthprice) May 26, 2023

At least 863 people have been killed so far in the fighting, according to the Sudan Doctor’s Syndicate, while hundreds of thousands have attempted to flee their homes to safety. 

Rights groups and NGOs have warned of a larger humanitarian disaster, as Sudan’s neighbours - including South Sudan, Chad and Egypt - are ill-equipped to cater to the needs of thousands of refugees. 

The fighting erupted following years of tensions between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti. Most immediately, the fighting was caused as Burhan and Hemedti were outlining a plan to transition Sudan to a civilian government. 

The hopes for civilian rule, however, appear to have gone up in smoke.