The Sudanese military has retired in peace negotiations facilitated by the United States and Saudi Arabia, accusing that the paramilitary adversaries have failed to fulfill their obligations.
The Sudanese army suspended its participation in US- and Saudi-brokered ceasefire talks Wednesday, accusing its paramilitary foes of failing to honor their commitments.
The mediators of the talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah have acknowledged repeated violations of the truce by both sides, but have so far held off imposing any sanctions in the hope of keeping the warring parties at the negotiating table.
US and Saudi mediators said late Monday that the warring parties had agreed to extend by five days a humanitarian truce they had frequently violated over the previous week.
The army walked out “because the rebels have never implemented a single one of the provisions of a short-term ceasefire, which required their withdrawal from hospitals and residential buildings,”, a Sudanese government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The army said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had also “repeatedly violated the truce,” the official added.
The mediators admitted the truce had been “imperfectly observed” but said the extension “will permit further humanitarian efforts.”
But despite the pledges of both sides, fighting flared again on Tuesday, both in greater Khartoum and in the flash point western region of Darfur.
Since fighting erupted between the rival security forces on April 15, more than 1,800 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
The United Nations says more than a million people have been internally displaced, and nearly 350,000 have fled abroad, including over 170,000 to Egypt.
The persistent fighting has impeded the delivery of the aid and protection needed by a record 25 million people, more than half the population, according to the UN.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
