Sudanese Army halts negotiations in Jeddah citing lack of agreement
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After resuming talks in mid-July, the Sudanese Armed Forces delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, halted the peace process with the Rapid Support Forces.
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The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and the Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan speaks during a press conference at the General Command of the Armed Forces in Khartoum, Sudan, October 26, 2021 (AFP)
The Sudanese Army's delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has returned home "for consultations" and will continue engaging in peace talks "after obstacles are overcome," a statement of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said on Thursday.
Quarrels over the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) evacuation of civilians from their homes in the capital Khartoum, as well as hospitals and roads, pushed the delegation not to agree to a ceasefire at the moment.
In mid-July, representatives of the SAF headed to Jeddah to resume negotiations with their RSF counterparts. The talks, mediated by Saudi and US officials, were previously adjourned in June due to repeated ceasefire violations.
As the war in Sudan rages on, the UN children's agency says one Sudanese child is being killed or injured every hour on average in the country's terrible conflict, which surpassed the 100-day mark.
Since April 15, violent and large-scale clashes have been taking place between the warring sides, which have concentrated in Khartoum and Darfur, leaving thousands dead and wounded among civilians.
UNICEF has documented "2,500 severe violations of children's rights – an average of at least one an hour."
According to the government, at least 435 children were murdered and 2,025 were wounded, but the exact number is likely far higher. An additional 14 million children are in desperate need of humanitarian support.
Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, stated that "every day children are being killed, injured, abducted and seeing the schools, hospitals and the vital infrastructure and life-saving supplies they rely on damaged, destroyed or looted," adding that previous generations who witnessed cycles of violence are now forced to see their offspring endure the same fate.
Read more: NYT: How Sudan devolved into war
