Rhino: Agencies – Talks aimed at ending Sudan’s devastating civil war began on Wednesday in Switzerland but the absence of armed forces dampened hopes of imminent steps to ease the country’s humanitarian crisis.
UN officials said Sudan had reached a ‘breaking point’ and warned of tens of thousands of deaths from hunger, disease, floods and violence in the coming months, which could be prevented if there is no greater global response.
This week, US special envoy Tom Perriello, who led the effort to hold the talks, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which controls large swathes of the country, had sent a delegation to participate in the talks, but direct mediation would be impossible without the presence of the armed forces.
In return, participants in the talks, such as Egypt, the UAE, the United Nations, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and experts, will hold consultations on a roadmap to stop violence and deliver humanitarian aid.
‘There will be no cessation of operations without the withdrawal and exit of the last militia from the cities and villages they have usurped and colonized,’ Sudanese Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said late on Tuesday.
The RSF command denied numerous accounts of its fighters attacking and looting civilians and said it was open to a peace deal if the armed forces participated in the talks.
The army said its absence from the talks was because previous commitments to withdraw fighters from civilian areas and facilitate the delivery of aid, brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia, had not been honored. The mediators say the two sides have ignored that agreement.
‘We are focused on ensuring both sides honor and implement the commitments they made in Jeddah,’ Brillo said on the X platform on Wednesday. The current talks will also focus on establishing a mechanism to enforce any agreement.
The RSF has continued operations in several areas of Sudan, intensively shelling the cities of Omdurman, El Obeid and El Fasher and advancing towards the southeast.
The rainy season is in full swing, damaging homes and shelters across the country and threatening a wave of waterborne diseases. The Ministry of Health said it had recorded 268 cases of cholera in Sudan over the past week.
Witnesses say the Port Sudan government frequently disrupts aid deliveries to RSF-controlled areas, in addition to the theft and looting often carried out by RSF fighters.
The war has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with half of Sudan’s 50 million people suffering from food shortages and famine in an area of North Darfur state.
