In order to prevent the country’s stuttering transition from autocracy to civilian administration, the United States called for a ceasefire in Sudan on Monday as the capital was being shelled for a third day.
During a gathering of the Group of Seven affluent nations on Monday in Japan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his support for a ceasefire and a restart of negotiations.
“People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks,” he said. “They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.”
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army, and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, his deputy, were urged on Monday to “immediately cease hostilities, restore calm, and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis.”
“Any further escalation” of the dispute between the army and paramilitary forces commanded by competing generals, according to Guterres, “could be devastating for the country and the region.”
Burhan was referred to as a “radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air” by Daglo on Twitter as the combat showed no signs of stopping.
“We will continue to pursue Al-Burhan and bring him to justice,” said Daglo, whose RSF and its predecessor the Janjaweed in Darfur have previously been accused of atrocities.
“The fight that we are waging now is the price of democracy,” he said.
Burhan told newsmen on Saturday that he was “surprised by Rapid Support Forces attacking his home” and that what was happening “should prevent the formation of forces outside the army” in his lone remark since the conflict started.
The head of the UN warned that “any further escalation” of the battle between the army and paramilitary groups backed by rival generals “could be devastating for the country and the region.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League, and the head of the African Union Commission joined the U.S. secretary of state and the U.N. secretary general in calling for a stop to hostilities. Later on Monday, the U.N. Security Council was scheduled to address the developments in Sudan.
As battle between the army and paramilitary forces led by competing generals raged for a third day with the death toll reaching 100, explosions shook the capital city of Sudan, Khartoum, on Monday.
International demands for an urgent ceasefire have been sparked by the violent war, which has included airstrikes, tanks on the streets, artillery fire, and heavy gunfire in populated neighborhoods in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities.
The two sides accepted a UN request for a window on Sunday to evacuate the injured amidst widespread medical appeals for safe paths to convey patients, but the intense gunfire continued.
The World Health Organisation warned that “several” of Khartoum’s nine hospitals receiving injured civilians “have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies”.
Volker Perthes, a U.N. Special Representative in Khartoum, expressed his “extreme disappointment” at both sides’ disregard for the humanitarian pause.
Fearing a protracted conflict that could worsen the country’s disarray and crush aspirations for a return to civilian rule, the violence has caused terrified Sudanese civilians to seek refuge in their homes.
The battles pit the armed forces against the potent paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and they have expanded to other sections of Sudan. This is the first such outbreak of violence in the capital in recent decades. The top two posts on the ruling council of Sudan are occupied by leaders of the two sides.