In Sudan, clashes intensified in the capital Khartoum and in the city of El Fasher in the west of the country, following an African call for a meeting between Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his adversary, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces.
The African Union has called for an immediate ceasefire and tasked the Ugandan President through a presidential committee to convene al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan.
The African Roadmap has returned to the forefront as a potential framework to resolve the escalating crisis in Sudan, due to over fourteen months of continued war and stalled efforts to resume dialogue between the warring parties.
The African Union is moving towards forming a presidential committee led by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and including several heads of state and leaders, to facilitate direct meetings between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces as soon as possible, without conditions, according to the presidential statement issued after these meetings.
The African Union also emphasized that an acceptable ceasefire cannot be achieved except through direct negotiations between the main parties to the conflict. It is noted that there have been indirect negotiations in several regions, the latest being in Manama, but the Jeddah negotiations have stalled.
In a similar context, the Council also emphasized that there is no military solution to the current crisis, urging the conflict parties to fully engage in the peace process.
It is clear that the Rapid Support Forces show some flexibility in negotiating with the army, but the problem in the past has been adhering to agreements and understandings between the parties, as was the case last year.
According to clear positions, the Sudanese army does not trust the Rapid Support Forces, and it appears that a decision was made regarding what is called the rebellion of the Rapid Support Forces, but this issue specifically has not been resolved.
There are international and regional concerns about Sudan sliding into complete chaos, especially with the widening of the war zone, covering more than seventy percent of Sudan’s territory.
Mutual attacks between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army continued, with the Sudanese army stating that the Rapid Support Forces attacked the Armored Corps headquarters south of Khartoum with heavy machinery. The Sudanese army repelled this attack and managed to destroy a number of Rapid Support Forces’ military vehicles around the Armored Corps.
El Fasher also witnessed intermittent artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces on the northern neighborhoods and the army headquarters north of El Fasher in North Darfur state. The Sudanese army responded by conducting airstrikes on Rapid Support Forces’ positions north of the city.
El Fasher has been witnessing intense battles for more than a month between the army and the joint forces of armed struggle movements, on one side, and the Rapid Support Forces on the other, resulting in the death of dozens and displacement of thousands.
In a related context, the Coordination Committee of Resistance Committees in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, said that the Rapid Support Forces shelled the only hospital that handles surgical cases and injuries. They clarified that the Saudi hospital is the only one also specializing in women’s health and obstetrics in Darfur, and it is the only one receiving surgical and critical cases after the southern hospital went out of service.
Not far from El Fasher, tension persists in South Darfur due to renewed tribal conflict between the Salamat and Habaniya tribes in the village of Samasam in the Red Sea locality. The situation remains tense, unpredictable, and there is widespread displacement of villagers to other locations within the Red Sea locality.