Fighting persists in Sudan amid talks to end violence

Streets in Sudan are deserted, except for checkpoints manned mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and a cloud of black smoke hung over parts of the city.

Fighting could be heard in south Khartoum on Sunday as envoys from Sudan’s warring parties were in Saudi Arabia for talks that international mediators hope will bring an end to a three-week old conflict that has killed hundreds and triggered an exodus.

The declared goal of the talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah is to end the conflict, which has killed hundreds and wounded thousands more. But both the army and the RSF say they want the dialogue to focus on humanitarian issues, not ending the conflict, suggesting that they intend to keep fighting.

The fighting has caused a breakdown in hospital services and disrupted supplies of medicine, food, water and electricity in the capital. On Saturday, internet and mobile phone connections were much weaker than usual, with residents saying they were having difficulty making calls or opening voice messages.

The Sudanese Doctors Union said a total of 17 hospitals had been damaged by fighting and 20 forcibly evacuated since the start of the violence. Sixty of the 88 hospitals in Khartoum are out of service, it said, with many of the rest only offering partial service.

The conflict erupted on April 15, pitting the army led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan against the RSF led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo ― a former militia leader better known by his nickname, Hemedti.

The fighting followed the collapse of an internationally backed plan to restore Sudan’s democratic transition, which was derailed by an October 2021 military takeover led by the two generals.

The transition was launched in 2019 after the army and RSF toppled the dictator Omar Al Bashir, ending his 29-year rule amid a popular uprising against him.

A series of ceasefires negotiated by foreign powers have failed to halt the fighting or allow humanitarian relief to reach residents of Khartoum.

The fighting has forced at least 100,000 Sudanese to flee the country and many more to seek refuge in provinces outside Khartoum.