The Human Cost of Conflict in Sudan
Since April 2023, Sudan has been plunged into a brutal conflict, with the military forces led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and the RSF, under General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Over 13,000 lives have been lost and 26,000 people injured, with a staggering 7.6 million displaced, according to the United Nations. According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) dataset the fatalities summed up to 13,068.
I've depicted these tragic losses in my latest visualisation, drawing on data from ACLED. This representation traces the fatalities across Sudan since the beginning of the conflict till the 8th of a February, highlighting the war's devastating trajectory.
Utilising Python for data processing and ArcGIS for analytical mapping, the visualisation captures the conflict's deadliest periods and locations. The initial surge in fatalities corresponds with the Khartoum clashes and Al Geneina incidents, which saw the RSF targeting the Masalit tribe in West Darfur.
According to the Darfur Bar Association, the violence spread through Sirba, where over 200, including leaders, were killed. Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab further revealed the obliteration of 27 Darfuri towns by the RSF.
ACLED's data from August to September 2023 indicates over 470 political violence events and a rising death toll surpassing 2,280. The battle over strategic points in Khartoum and inter-ethnic clashes in South Darfur signalled an escalation in violence.
The period from late October to November saw more than 360 violent events and 1,690 fatalities, with West Darfur suffering the most casualties. The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) reported that as of 15 October 2023, 68 villages have been damaged by fires.
Most recently, Al Gezira State has become a hotspot, with over half a million displaced due to the conflict intensifying in urban centers like Medani Al Kubra and Sharg Aj Jazirah, as per IOM - UN Migration reports.
Amidst this turmoil, a communications blackout persists, with major internet providers down for a week now according to reports by Al Jazeera English. Several reports indicate that Sudatel Telecom Group, Ltd network is partially back into service for some cities.
This visualization is more than numbers—it's a call to acknowledge and address the dire human costs of conflict.
#keepeyesonsudan #SudanConflict #ACLED #DataVisualization #GIS #HumanitarianCrisis #ACLED #IOM
Humanitarian Technology Innovator & DEEP Project Coordinator @ the Danish Refugee Council
2moBravo Annesha Mahanta and our amazing theDEEP Ohana and DEEP Surge team, saving lives globally with open-source, NLP, and innovation 🌎