In Sudan, fighting broke out again at the weekend between the army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – despite initial indirect talks between representatives of the conflicting parties in Saudi Arabia. According to local media reports, the talks are again about a ceasefire and the establishment of humanitarian corridors, but not about a lasting peace solution. A direct meeting of the negotiating partners in the Saudi Jeddah was not planned. During previous mediations, both sides had repeatedly agreed on a ceasefire and promised to set up humanitarian corridors. However, the agreements were not kept.
The fighting in the crisis country continued at the weekend. According to the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera, the Sudanese army has pushed back the rival RSF from Njala, the capital of South Darfur state in the west of the country. Darfur is actually considered a stronghold of the RSF. According to media and eyewitness reports, there were also airstrikes and artillery fire in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday.
The situation had calmed down a bit on Sunday morning, a reporter from the German Press Agency in Khartoum reported. According to media reports, however, there were renewed air raids near the presidential palace in the center of the capital in the afternoon.
The power struggle escalated
In mid-April, a long-simmering power struggle between the army commanded by de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF paramilitary unit of his Vice President Mohammed Hamdan Daglo escalated in Sudan. Since then, there have been bloody battles between the two sides in the country in northeast Africa, which has a population of around 46 million. Several hundred people were killed in the fighting and several thousand were injured.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid organizations have now resumed work in the country. You work under massive security risks. The WHO announced on Friday that, together with the United Arab Emirates, it had delivered around 30 tons of medical supplies by plane to Port Sudan in the east of the country. The Red Sea port city has become a haven for many refugees attempting to cross to Saudi Arabia by ship. According to the WHO, 165,000 people can be helped with the medical material and medicines.
In view of the devastating situation, the United Nations Human Rights Council will discuss the country next Thursday. The special session was convened in Geneva at the request of Germany, Great Britain, Norway and the United States, as spokesman for the panel announced on Friday evening. The official topic of the session is “the impact of the conflict in Sudan on human rights”.
