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Blinken discusses need to end Sudan war with top general

Sudan has been gripped since April 2023 by a civil war…reports Asian Lite News

Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the need to urgently end the war in Sudan with Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in a phone call on Tuesday, the State Department said.

The two also addressed ways to “enable unhindered humanitarian access, including cross border and cross line, to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people,” it said.

Sudan has been gripped since April 2023 by a civil war between the Sudanese army, led by Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Thousands of civilians are estimated to have died.

Blinken discussed a resumption of peace negotiations with Burhan and the need to protect civilians and defuse hostilities in Al-Fashir, North Darfur, the State Department said.

Recent attacks around Al-Fashir have shattered a local truce that protected it from the wider war.

Egypt will host a conference next month bringing together Sudan’s civilian political groups with other regional and global parties, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The conference aims to produce an agreement between Sudan’s civilian groups on ways to build a comprehensive and permanent peace, it added.

More than two weeks of fighting between Sudan’s military and a notorious paramilitary group over a major city in the western Darfur region killed at least 123 people, an international aid group said on Sunday.

The fighting in El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded more than 930 people in the same period, Doctors without Borders said.

“This is a sign of the violent intensity of the fighting,” the group said.

“We urge the warring parties to do more to protect civilians.”

Clashes between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalated earlier this month in the city, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes, according to the UN.

El-Fasher has become the center of the conflict between the military and the RSF, aided by militias commonly known as Janjaweed.

The city is the last stronghold held by the military in the sprawling Darfur region.

Sudan’s conflict began in April last year when soaring tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The conflict killed more than 14,000 people and wounded thousands more amid reports of widespread sexual violence and other atrocities that rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It also pushed the country’s population to the brink of famine.

The UN food agency warned the warring parties earlier this month that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don’t allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.

In recent months, the RSF has built up forces seeking to wrest control of El-Fasher. Along with its militia allies, the RSF besieged the city and launched a major attack on its southern and eastern parts earlier this month.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration reported that clashes renewed on Thursday in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people in the Salam neighborhood in the city’s northern and southern western parts.

On Saturday, a shell hit the house of a Doctors Without Borders aid worker close to the city’s main market, killing the worker, the charity said.

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Violent clashes continue in Sudan

Witnesses said the Sudanese army’s warplanes flew over the southern area of Omdurman, with intermittent clashes occurring in old neighborhoods of the city….reports Asian Lite News

Violent clashes between the warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have continued in various areas of the capital Khartoum.

The clashes mainly took place in eastern Khartoum, north of Bahri (Khartoum North) city, and west of Omdurman city, according to witnesses and resistance committees.

“The clashes renewed today in the vicinity of the Burri neighbourhood, with warplanes flying over the area,” Xinhua news agency quoted resistance committees of the neighborhood in Khartoum as saying in a statement on Thursday.

“Cannon shells fell on several parts of Burri, and residential buildings were affected. No deaths or injuries are reported so far,” the statement added.

Witnesses said the Sudanese army’s warplanes flew over the southern area of Omdurman, with intermittent clashes occurring in old neighborhoods of the city.

Violent clashes also took place in the Al-Kadaro camp in Bahri, a major camp of the army, with explosions heard there, the witnesses added.

Also on Thursday, Malik Agar, the deputy chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, declared the Sovereign Council’s rejection of the initiative proposed by the African Union to resolve the Sudanese crisis, citing the suspension of Sudan’s membership in the bloc.

Agar also expressed reservations about the recent initiative from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), saying IGAD was seeking to introduce the United Nations forces into Sudan and demilitarize Khartoum through its “occupation initiative”,

As the fighting continued, residents of Bahri were suffering from continued water shortage while those in southern Khartoum were facing food scarcity.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its report issued on Monday that the current crisis has worsened the already dire food insecurity in Sudan, with more people possibly plunged into famine.

To scale up its response, the FAO urgently appealed for funding amounting to 95.4 million U.S. dollars to reach 15 million people in need, according to the report.

About 2.5 million people have been displaced inside and outside of Sudan since the conflict broke out on April 15, according to an update of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

So far, the conflicts have left over 3,000 people dead and more than 6,000 injured, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.

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Respect ceasefire: Global community urges Sudan factions

This initial phase of diplomacy to establish a process to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.

The Trilateral Mechanism on Sudan, which brings together the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the UN, have called for the full implementation of the ceasefire in Sudan.

Members of the Trilateral Mechanism made the call in a joint statement along with the Quad on Sudan that brings together Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, according to a joint statement issued on Friday.

“Members of the Trilateral Mechanism and the Quad welcome the announcement by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to extend the current ceasefire for an additional 72 hours and call for its full implementation,” the statement said.

They also welcomed the readiness of the two Sudanese warring factions to engage in dialogue toward establishing a more durable cessation of hostilities and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access, Xinhua news agency reported.

People fleeing from Sudan arrive at a bus station in Aswan, Egypt, on April 25, 2023. Many people crossed into Egypt through the border crossing between Egypt and Sudan, as conflict in the latter country continues. (Photo by Radwan Abu Elmagd/Xinhua)

This initial phase of diplomacy to establish a process to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements will contribute to action on the development of a de-escalation plan as outlined in the April 20 African Union release, the statement says.

Since mid-April, Sudan has been mired in military clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF following days of tension between the once-allied leaders of both sides.

The country has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in October 2021 and dissolved the Sovereign Council as well as the government.

ALSO READ: Sudan: Truce extended but fighting continues