The Sudanese army on Monday boycotted peace talks in Addis Ababa proposed by East African countries to end the war that has ravaged Sudan for three months, where fighting continued on Monday.
The clashes between the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo and the regular troops of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane have caused nearly 3,000 deaths since April 15, a very underestimated toll both the bodies which litter the streets are inaccessible.
The war has also created three million displaced persons and refugees and, while no diplomatic initiative has so far given birth to more than a few hours of truce, Sudan is now, according to the UN, “on the brink of ‘an all-out potentially destabilizing civil war for the whole region’.
First concerned, and yet sidelined for a long time by the American and Saudi mediators, the countries of East Africa are trying to regain control.
But the IGAD “Quartet” made up of Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and South Sudan is chaired by the Kenyan head of state William Ruto, whose “partiality” the Sudanese government denounces.
“Our delegation arrived safely in Addis Ababa on Monday morning […] but was informed that the presidency of the group of four had not been replaced” as the government had demanded, the Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Occupy Sudan”
In its final statement, the Quartet deplores “the regrettable absence of the delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) although invited and having confirmed its participation”.
General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, head of the FSR, had for his part sent his political adviser to Addis Ababa.
The FSR denounced in a statement “irresponsible behavior”.
The Quartet nevertheless assures “mobilize and concentrate the efforts of all stakeholders to bring together face to face the leaders of the two belligerent parties”.
The Quartet again called “to sign an unconditional ceasefire” between the Sudanese belligerents.
IGAD is calling for a summit of the East African Standby Force (EASF) “to study a possible deployment” of the latter in Sudan “to protect civilians and guarantee humanitarian access”.
The EASF is one of the five regional components of the African Standby Force (ASF), a peacekeeping force of the African Union (AU), whose operational reality faces many challenges.
Mubarak Ardol, a former Sudanese rebel now aligned with the army, denounced “a plan to occupy Sudan within a meeting aimed at promoting military interference” and praised the army for boycotting the meeting.
“Foreign Interference”
Molly Phee, the US Under Secretary of State for Africa is also in Addis Ababa on Monday and Tuesday to meet with regional and Sudanese officials.
In a statement on Sunday, she said she called on the two Sudanese belligerents to “stop fighting immediately”.
It also says “to resume the calls of the countries of the region to prevent any foreign interference and military support which would aggravate or prolong the conflict”.
According to experts on the matter, the two camps have strong support beyond the borders of Sudan: the Egyptian neighbor to the north supports the army while the United Arab Emirates and Wagner’s Russian mercenaries are on the side of the FSR.
On the ground, residents told AFP of fighting and air raids in different neighborhoods of Khartoum. “Rockets fell on the houses of civilians,” said one of them.
Fighting was also underway in El-Obeid, 350 km south of Khartoum, witnesses said.
And an army source said regular troops had ‘repelled an attack’ by a rebel group in Blue Nile state, which borders Ethiopia
On Saturday, dozens of civilians were killed in the northwestern suburbs of Khartoum in a raid blamed on the air force. The bombardment, which occurred on Saturday in the residential district of Dar al-Salam in Omdurman, caused, according to the ministry, “22 dead and a large number of wounded among civilians”.