US calls for cease-fire in Sudan amid clashes between rival military factions

NEW YORK

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday on Sudan’s two most powerful generals to reach a cease-fire as fighting intensified amid a power struggle between rival military factions.

Fighting erupted Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and its surroundings.

Blinken spoke separately by phone with General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” the commander of the RSF, according to a statement released by the State Department.

Blinken underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire to permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance and to allow the international community in the capital Khartoum to make sure its presence is secure, said the statement.

He expressed ''grave concern'' over the death and injury of so many Sudanese civilians due to the sustained, indiscriminate fighting, it added.

More than 180 people have been killed and 1,800 injured in recent clashes between the military rivals, according to the UN.