Khartoum / Port Sudan / Washington DC — Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Abdelfattah El Burhan accepts Turkey as a mediator in the armed conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), after rejecting Kenyan mediation. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the release of 125 army soldiers held by the RSF.
El Burhan briefed Turkish President Recep Erdoğan on the situation in Sudan in a phone call on Tuesday, the media office of the Sovereignty Council reported yesterday.
He affirmed the army's acceptance of "any Turkish initiative to stop the war and bring peace to Sudan".
The army commander spoke about the "truces violated by the RSF" and "crimes committed" by its paramilitaries, including rapes, robberies, and plundering.
Erdoğan stressed the readiness of the Turkish government to continue its efforts in providing humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people, noting that the Turkish Hospital in Nyala, South Darfur, continues to provide medical services.
Earlier this month, El Burhan welcomed an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that had tasked a newly established Sudan Quartet with the mediation between the two warring parties in the country. The IGAD Quartet that consists of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan, would be chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto.
Malik Agar, the newly appointed deputy head of the Sovereignty Council, who attended the IGAD summit meetings in Djibouti on June 13, rejected the Kenyan chairmanship "because it lacks neutrality", and requested to keep South Sudan President Salva Kiir as head of the Quartet.
El Burhan later spoke with Djibouti President and IGAD Chair Ismail Guelle to officially inform him about Sudan's stance concerning the Kenyan chairmanship. "Kenya is not neutral and is home to RSF rebel leaders," the Sovereignty Council said in a press statement on June 15.
Truces violated again
Though both the SAF and the RSF unilaterally announced a ceasefire for Wednesday, the first day of the Eid El Adha (the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice), the fighting did not stop.
On Thursday, the fighting continued in greater Khartoum, as fierce clashes between the army and RSF were reported in Sharg El Nil (East Nile) in Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri) and in several parts of Omdurman. In Khartoum, people reported a violent explosion in the vicinity of the General Command in the centre of the city and air strikes on the eastern part of the city.
SAF Deputy Commander-in-Chief Yasir El Atta yesterday said in a statement that "the [RSF] insurgency will end first in Omdurman, followed by Khartoum and Khartoum North".
"Special forces are conducting military operations in the capital's three cities and have now surrounded the RSF in some districts of Omdurman."
Released
The RSF did keep to its promise to release a number of war prisoners from the SAF.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported yesterday that it facilitated the release of 125 army soldiers held by the RSF, "in its role as neutral intermediary and following a request by the parties to the conflict".
ICRC trams transported the released soldiers, including 44 wounded soldiers by bus from Khartoum to Wad Madani in El Gezira.
On Monday, the ICRC facilitated the release of 14 wounded people detained in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur.
'Accountable'
The United Nations Integrated Transition Support Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) welcomed the ceasefires unilaterally announced by the army and the RSF for the first day of the Eid El Adha.
In a press statement on Wednesday, the UN mission, that moved its offices from Khartoum to Port Sudan after the war broke out on April 15, stressed the need for the parties to maintain the ceasefires.
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"At the same time, the RSF and allied militias remain accountable for violence against civilians, rape and looting in the areas they control, including in Khartoum, and ethnically targeted violence against civilians in Darfur," the statement reads.
"The SAF remains accountable for attacks in civilian populated areas, including aerial bombardments of residential areas in Khartoum.
"Under international law, warring parties are responsible for the protection of civilians in areas under their control."
On Wednesday, Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) spoke with former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok about Sudan's ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis.
"Administrator Power expressed her support, on behalf of the US government, for the essential role of Sudanese civilians seeking to end the conflict, deliver emergency care, and develop a political process to restore Sudan's democratic transition and form an inclusive civilian government," USAID said in a statement on Wednesday.
