2023-06-11 21:22:30
The United States and Saudi Arabia, in a joint statement on Sunday, strongly condemned the resumption of violence in Sudan following a 24-hour ceasefire.
And the Saudi Press Agency, “SPA”, reported a statement in which it said: “The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces demonstrated effective command and control of their forces during the ceasefire period that took place on June 10, 2023, which led to a decrease in the intensity of the fighting and its decline throughout Sudan and enabled Delivering vital humanitarian aid and achieving some confidence-building measures.”
The statement added that Riyadh and Washington expressed “deep regret over the return of the two sides to violence immediately following the end of the ceasefire period, and affirm that a military solution to the conflict is unacceptable, and strongly condemn these actions, and call for their immediate cessation.”
The statement stressed that Saudi Arabia and the United States affirmed that “in the context of continuing their stand by the Sudanese people, they are ready to resume talks as soon as the two parties to the conflict show their adherence to what they agreed upon in the Jeddah Declaration.”
The statement concluded by saying that Saudi Arabia and the United States “will work to coordinate with regional and international partners to stop the fighting and reduce its impact on the region, and intensify coordination with the relevant Sudanese civil authorities to ensure their participation in shaping the future of Sudan.”
Violent clashes and artillery shelling
Heavy clashes and artillery bombardment erupted across Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Sunday, and residents reported air strikes shortly following the end of a 24-hour ceasefire that brought a brief lull in the eight-week-old fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Witnesses said that the fighting that broke out on Sunday between the two sides was one of the fiercest battles in weeks, and included clashes on the ground in the densely populated Haj Youssef neighborhood in the city of Bahri, which, along with neighboring Khartoum and Omdurman, forms the triangle capital around the confluence of the Nile.
After the ceasefire expired at six in the morning local time, witnesses said that clashes and artillery shelling resumed in northern Omdurman.
They also indicated that clashes took place in the south and center of Khartoum and in Shambat on the Nile River in the city of Bahri, up to the strategic Halfaya Bridge that leads to the city of Omdurman.
Hostilities erupted between the two sides on April 15 due to disputes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 1.9 million, causing a major humanitarian crisis amid fears of its spillover into the volatile region.
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