Talks deadlocked as fighting rages in Sudan

KHARTOUM — Armed clashes continued in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Monday as negotiations between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary Rapid Supportive Forces, or RSF, have so far yielded no major progress.

The situation in Sudan is stable in all states except for the capital Khartoum, SAF Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan told Egypt's Al Qahera News in a phone interview on Monday.

"We can discuss a settlement after we reach a permanent cease-fire in Khartoum," Burhan was quoted as saying, warning that war could spread to the rest of Sudan if a division happens in Khartoum.

"Our forces clashed with a group of the rebel militia in Bahri (Khartoum North) and destroyed four armed vehicles, while the enemy fled," the SAF said in a statement on Monday.

Gunfire and shelling could still be heard in Khartoum early in the morning. Fighter jets of the armed forces flew above the city and the RSF fired anti-aircraft guns in response, according to a Xinhua correspondent at Khartoum.

The SAF accused the RSF fighters of robbing banks and shops, as well as storming citizens' houses and looting their property in the residential neighborhoods where the RSF fighters are stationed.

The SAF warned citizens to keep away from the clash areas and avoid approaching any unknown metal objects until the technical crews arrive to deal with them.

Meanwhile, an anonymous Saudi Arabian diplomat told media on Monday that as the dialogue between the two warring parties in Jeddah entered its third day, no significant progress has been made, noting that the topic of a permanent cease-fire is "not on the table".

Shortage of basic needs

Since the conflict began, the war-torn areas in Khartoum have been cut off from electricity, water supply, and communication. People who had to hunker down in their houses are facing a dire shortage of basic living necessities and medical services.

In Darfur, clashes have killed at least 100 people, according to Sudan's Doctors Syndicate.

Hospitals were still out of service in the Darfur city of Genena and an accurate count of the wounded was still hard to make, the doctors' union added in a statement posted on its official Facebook page late Sunday.

The fighting in Genena, which broke out a few days after Sudan's two rival generals took up arms against each other in Khartoum, points to the possibility that the conflict could engulf other parts of the East African country.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

The battles have now engulfed large parts of Sudan, killing hundreds, wounding thousands and unleashing a humanitarian disaster that could not have come at a worse time.

Africa was already facing a deepening set of crises, from drought to floods and a growing list of armed conflicts, that has seen a demand surge for lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

Now, according to an internal UN estimate obtained by Reuters, 5 million additional people in Sudan will require emergency assistance, half of them children.

Agencies - Xinhua