Clashes renew in Sudan despite cease-fire talks

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Fierce clashes renewed on Thursday between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group despite their cease-fire talks in Saudi Arabia.

Armed clashes were reported in al-Shaqilab district, south of Khartoum, and in Karari neighborhood in the city of Omdurman, according to witnesses.

Forces of the two military rivals also clashed west of the Halfaya Bridge, which connects Omdurman and the city of Bahri, north of Khartoum.

No information was yet available about casualties.

The violence came as talks between representatives of the army and the RSF continued in the Saudi city of Jeddah to broker a cease-fire and resolve their dispute.

More than 832 civilians have been killed and thousands injured since the fighting first erupted on April 15, according to local medics.

A disagreement has been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”

Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi