Saudi Arabia and the United States seek to "continue discussions" between the belligerents in Sudan for a new "effective" ceasefire, Riyadh said on Sunday, as fighting between soldiers and paramilitaries continues to rage, with no end in sight.
Residents of Khartoum were once again confronted with the roar of bombs and airstrikes on Sunday, as the war for power between military and paramilitary leaders enters its eighth week.
Witnesses told AFP of airstrikes targeting paramilitary positions of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in eastern Khartoum, causing civilian casualties.
Earlier in the day, the paramilitaries claimed to have shot down a fighter plane, assuring that the army had launched an air attack this morning against the positions "of the RSF" in the district of Bahri, in the north of Khartoum.
A military source also told AFP that a Chinese-made fighter jet crashed near the Wadi Seidna base, north of Khartoum, due to a "technical failure".
Witnesses said they saw a plane moving from south to north of the capital, flames shooting out the back.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that army envoys and paramilitaries were still in Jeddah, on the Red Sea, where negotiations had been officially suspended.
“Saudi Arabia and the United States seek to continue discussions between the two (Sudanese) delegations to facilitate humanitarian assistance,” he added.
The two mediators called for "a new ceasefire which is effectively applied", knowing that the two previous truces they had negotiated have remained a dead letter.
Ryad and Washington also want the parties in conflict to agree on "the measures to be taken in the short term for the resumption of negotiations in Jeddah".
On Wednesday, the army withdrew from talks meant to create safe corridors for civilians and humanitarian aid. The next day, the United States and Saudi Arabia said they were officially suspending them.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia from June 6-8, with the US ready to resume talks in Jeddah with Sudanese generals if they are 'serious' about upholding the ceasefire -fire.
In seven weeks, the war between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, has left more than 1,800 dead and more than a million and a half displaced and refugees.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate on the ground, where the population lacks everything, whereas, before the war, a third of the 45 million Sudanese already depended on international aid, in one of the poorest countries in the world. world.
On Thursday, Washington announced sanctions against two army arms companies and two companies, including one operating in Sudan's gold mines, run by General Daglo and two of his brothers.
Despite the announcement of sanctions, fighting with heavy weapons continues to claim victims every day, looting continues and the number of displaced people continues to increase.
In Khartoum, civilians without running water face cash shortages and chronic power cuts.
Hospitals located in combat zones are partially functioning or even shut down. And the crisis is expected to worsen with the approach of the rainy season, synonymous in Sudan with an upsurge in malaria, food insecurity and child malnutrition.
The situation is particularly critical in Darfur, bordering Chad, in the grip of "total anarchy", according to the governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abkar.
"The situation is completely out of control," he said on Sunday.
The governor of Darfur, Minni Minnawi, a former rebel leader now close to the army, denounced him on Twitter for "exactions" and "looting"
He declared Darfur a "disaster zone", calling for help from the international community.
Darfur, home to a quarter of Sudan's population, has never managed to recover from a devastating two-decade war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced two million more.
06/04/2023 20:50:29 - Khartoum (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
