After a six-month battle that has taken a toll on both the nation and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s army announced on Thursday, October 26, 2023, that it will resume its participation in a peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
Although it stated that “negotiations are one of the means that may end the conflict,” the Sudanese army declined the offer on Wednesday and declared that it would not put an end to hostilities.
Along with confirming that it had accepted the offer, the RSF released a video on Wednesday showing its second-in-command directing soldiers in Nyala, a significant combat zone.
Four years after the two armies overthrew President Omar al-Bashir and eighteen months after they staged a coup to remove civilian allies, fighting broke out in mid-April over plans to merge troops.
Since then, war has wreaked havoc on the nation’s capital and other major cities, displacing almost 6 million people and killing thousands more, resulting in what UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths has termed “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.”
West Darfur’s RSF has been charged with carrying out an ethnic slaughter.
Following many ceasefire violations, the United States and Saudi Arabia terminated negotiations in June.
One of the US officials stated, “Both sides have privately indicated that they are ready to resume talks,” adding that the weight of months of combat and a humanitarian crisis has been felt by both parties.
Witnesses report that throughout the past week, the battle has slowed down and that both sides have turned to long-range artillery, which has been firing shells into civilian areas.
According to military sources, the RSF has had difficulty tending to injured soldiers, while the army has had difficulty repairing its aged jets.
Both have struggled to pay for their worn-out troops, according to the sources.
In order to provide the framework for a negotiated settlement to the war, the African Union and the regional organization IGAD would be participating in the Jeddah negotiations. These talks would first center on humanitarian concerns, ceasefires, and measures aimed at fostering confidence.
One of the officials stated that both sides’ failure to protect civilians made it clear they were unfit to rule the country going forward. Civilian leaders, who have been holding organizing meetings in Addis Ababa this week, would not be participating in the initial rounds but could be brought in later.
Earlier this week, General Shams el-Din Kabbashi, the army’s second-in-command, left the city for the first time since hostilities broke out. The army was prepared for talks, he declared in a video, but “we will not let bygones be bygones.”
Diplomats and insiders in Sudan claim that although the army is eager to communicate, Bashir’s supporters, who hold significant power within the military, oppose talks and would rather keep regaining ground while hostilities persist.
Ref: Reuters
