Sudan conflict continues as talks in Jeddah 'yielded no progress'
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The Sudanese conflict has so far claimed the life of over 750 people and injured more than 5,000 at a time when peace talks in Jeddah remain stagnant.
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Smoke rises in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, May 3, 2023 (AP)
Air strikes struck Sudan's capital, again, on Monday, as the latest truce talks in Jeddah produced no results. According to a Saudi diplomat, both, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), claimed that they believe they are "capable of winning the battle."
Multiple truce deals have been declared and quickly violated since battles erupted between the Sudanese parties on April 15. However, the US and Saudi Arabia have dubbed the most recent truce "pre-negotiation talks" and the two parties have each assigned and deployed their representatives to Jeddah.
According to a Saudi Arabia diplomat, who was cited by AFP, "A permanent ceasefire isn't on the table... Every side believes it is capable of winning the battle," adding that the talks have not yielded "no major progress".
The founder of the Khartoum-based think tank Confluence Advisory, Kholood Khair, argued that the delegations "are there [in Jeddah] mostly to curry favour with the Saudis and the Americans, rather than to credibly use this platform as a means to reach an agreement."
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the ongoing conflict in Sudan has claimed the lives of more than 750 people and injured over 5,000 while having displaced over 350,000. In addition to that, the UN announced that 120,000 refugees have fled north into Egypt, west to Chad, South Sudan as well as elsewhere.
UN aid chief in Jeddah for Sudan ceasefire talks amid ongoing clashes
UN top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths arrived in Saudi Arabia Sunday for ceasefire talks between Sudan's warring generals, as gun battles and airstrikes flared in the Sudanese capital at the start of a fourth week of fighting.
Multiple truce deals have been declared and quickly violated since battles erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15.
Fierce combat since then has killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians, wounded thousands and sparked multiple warnings of a potential "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis. More than 100,000 people have already fled the country.
In embattled Khartoum, fighter jets have bombed positions as terrified residents stay barricaded indoors trying to cope with dire shortages of water, food, medicines, and other staples.
Across the Red Sea in the Saudi city of Jeddah, talks were underway aiming for a ceasefire that could push efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged population.
The generals leading the warring parties have said little about the talks being held in Jeddah since Saturday.
Sudanese army Spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdalla explained that the talks were on how a truce "can be correctly implemented to serve the humanitarian side," while Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the RSF, only said on Twitter that he welcomed the technical discussions.
Griffiths was in Jeddah on Sunday "to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan," spokesperson Eri Kaneko said.
Read more: Sudan: A borderless conflict
