While the calmness of Khartoum prevails, attention turns today (Saturday) towards the city of Jeddah, which is hosting talks between the Sudanese army forces and the Rapid Support Forces, in response to a Saudi-American initiative. Eyewitnesses reported that, today (the twenty-second of the war), intermittent clashes with heavy weapons and the sound of explosions resulting from the bombing of the warplanes were heard in the capital.
Sudanese sources revealed that the army delegation is represented by three officers and an ambassador, while the Rapid Support delegation is represented by three officers. The Sudanese army announced that its delegation will discuss the details of the truce that is being renewed, in order to secure and create appropriate conditions for dealing with humanitarian aspects. He stated that he had sent a delegation to Jeddah yesterday evening (Friday) within the framework of the initiative, and that the two sides would discuss only a humanitarian truce and not an end to the war.
Although the two parties to the conflict announced the extension of the armistice for 72 hours, and although calm prevailed in the capital for a while, the clashes returned again.
The civil forces that signed the framework agreement welcomed the Jeddah talks, and expressed their hope that they would lead to stopping the fighting and addressing the humanitarian situation, paving the way for a sustainable peaceful political solution.
And she considered in a statement that these discussions constitute a first step to stop the accelerating collapse that the country has been witnessing since the outbreak of the war in mid-April, and said that she hopes that the leadership of the Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces will take courageous decisions that will support the voice of wisdom, stop the fighting and end the suffering that the people are experiencing as a result of the war. The civil forces thanked the governments of the Kingdom and the United States for their efforts to arrange these talks and reach a formula to end the war and establish peace.
The envoy of the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Ambassador Daffallah Al-Hajj, announced that he would not accept any proposals to discuss reconciliation with the Rapid Support Forces, stressing that the priority lies in resolving the battle. He said that the Sudanese army accepted the Saudi-American initiative to discuss and monitor the armistice mechanism, revealing that there were no direct meetings between the army and Rapid Support delegations in Jeddah.
On the ground, warplanes roam the skies of the three cities of the capital (Bahri, Omdurman, and Khartoum), after the two parties, the Army and Rapid Support, named their representatives in the talks that are expected to start in Jeddah to discuss calm and the way to a permanent ceasefire.
For its part, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate announced today that 13 medical personnel have been killed since the start of the fighting, and that a number of patients have died due to the lack of medicines, stressing that 12,000 patients are at risk of dying due to lack of medicines and equipment.
