Sudan’s army declines to attend peace talks in Ethiopia

GOOBJOOG NEWS | KHARTOUM: The Sudanese army has refused an invitation to join a regional meeting aimed at ending fighting in the country and Kenya, which chaired the talks, of favoring the rival paramilitaries.

In April, war broke out following a fierce power struggle between Sudanese Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The fighting has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions, prompting the East African regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to intervene and seek avenues to restore peace in Sudan.

The bloc invited the two sides to a meeting in Ethiopia’s capital on Monday, as while fighting continued across Sudan but neither Burhan nor Daglo personally attended the talks in Addis Ababa, although the RSF sent a representative to the “quartet” meeting led by Kenya, South Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project in Sudan around 3000 people have so far been killed in the violence but the actual death toll is believed to be much higher as parts of the country remain inaccessible.

The organization further says around three million people have been displaced internally or fled across borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Multiple diplomatic initiatives to halt the fighting have produced only brief respites, with the UN warning on Sunday that Sudan was on “the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region”.

• By Fauxile Kibet