Sudanese army suspends ceasefire talks with paramilitary forces

The Sudanese army delegation suspended on Wednesday its participation in ongoing negotiations with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, a senior military source said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspension was not a withdrawal from the negotiations, but an expression of the army’s rejection of the continued and repeated violations by the RSF of the short-term ceasefire agreement.

The source also said the RSF had not fulfilled its commitments to withdrawing from civilian areas, including hospitals and neighbourhoods.

The Sudanese army and the RSF agreed to extend a week-long ceasefire agreement by five days before it was due to expire on Monday.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported clashes on Wednesday morning in the Al-Mohandiseen district in Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum. The army closed the Al-Fatihab bridge linking Khartoum and Omdurman, while warplanes were flying over the area.

The RSF accused the Sudanese army in a statement on Wednesday of violating the truce, saying that “the army bombarded our positions in Khartoum.”

Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other areas since April 15.

More than 800 people have been killed, and nearly 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes since the conflict began, with more than one million people internally displaced and about 345,000 people crossing into neighbouring countries for safety, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in its latest report on Sunday.