The Sudanese army has confirmed the fact that it sent envoys to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to engage in the talks, which the UN and aid agencies have been pressing for, in regards to a dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
This follows a joint US-Saudi statement that welcomed the start of “pre-negotiation talks” in Jeddah between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
It is worth noting that nearly three weeks of heavy fighting have killed hundreds of people and displaced nearly 450,000 civilians. Of that total, the International Organization for Migration says, more than 115,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
According to a Unicef spokesman, James Elder, the conflict’s first 11 days alone had killed an estimated 190 children and wounded 1,700 – and those figures were just from health facilities in Khartoum and Darfur. “The reality is likely to be much worse,” he said.
This is all because Sudan’s army commander Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the de facto Sudanese president – is engaged in a bitter power struggle with RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
However, the statement from the US and Saudi governments said they “urge both parties to take in consideration the interests of the Sudanese nation and its people and actively engage in the talks towards a ceasefire and end to the conflict, which will spare the Sudanese people’s suffering and ensure the availability of humanitarian aid to affected areas”.
It should also be noted that multiple truces have been agreed upon since the fighting between the rival security forces erupted on April 15, but none has been respected.
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