Sudan

Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, reaffirmed his refusal to negotiate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and harshly criticized its commander, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti, labelling him as a “traitor, a coward, and a hypocrite.”

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, head of the Civil Forces Coordination (Taqqadum), has once again urged the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to meet with the Coordination to discuss a ceasefire and peace efforts. … While Hemetti responded favourably and met with coordination representatives in Addis Ababa on January 2, the army has yet to respond to Hamdok’s call.

[…] Kenya is the latest leg of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's first trip abroad since the fierce fighting erupted between the RSF and the Sudanese army in mid-April.

Since the start of the war El Gezira has become a crucial hub for aid operations and a refuge for internally displaced people, with hundreds of thousands of families moving to Wad Madani, Sudan's second city. But now that city is under attack, with as many as 300,000 people reportedly fleeing El Gezira since mid December as a result of clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan's army.

[…] The IGAD leaders, in a landmark decision during their extraordinary summit held on December 9, agreed to appoint a special envoy to facilitate negotiations between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), effectively dissolving the controversial quartet group that had been previously tasked with mediating the conflict.

Civilians in Sudan – where rival militaries are waging a bloody war, with devastating consequences – are at a high risk of falling into catastrophic levels of hunger by May next year, the UN emergency food relief agency warned on Wednesday.

Sudan’s representative called on the Security Council today to impose an arms and material transport embargo against rebel forces, invaders and mercenaries, and to lift sanctions on the Government forces, as the 15‑member organ received an update from its sanctions committee for that country.

[…] The ICRC said it was shocked and appalled by the attack, which it described as deliberate.

Saudi and U.S.-brokered talks aimed at halting fighting between Sudan's warring parties have faltered again, and the country's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have pressed on with military campaigns that have caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) is set to formally amend its mediation programme on Sudan, which had included the creation of a quartet of countries seeking peace.