Sudan's New Year Marred by Ongoing Conflict

Despite international diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, Sudan welcomed the new year with renewed clashes and powerful explosions. Explosions rocked the capital, Khartoum, and the state of Sennar in the southeast of the country, as heavy artillery and warplanes were deployed in ongoing battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, utilizing drones.

The celebrations for the new year were conspicuously absent on the streets of the capital and other cities due to the war, leading to a curfew being imposed in relatively safer northern and eastern regions of the country.

In Khartoum, eyewitnesses reported artillery shelling targeting neighborhoods south of the city, accompanied by loud explosions. The army also carried out drone strikes on several Rapid Support Forces positions in eastern Khartoum and Khartoum Bahri, resulting in thick columns of smoke.

The situation was not much different in the Sennar state, which the Rapid Support Forces had recently taken control of, following their takeover of the Gezira state in central Sudan. Here, clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces intensified.

Diplomatic Efforts to End the Conflict

It is worth noting that former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok issued an urgent call last week for communication with both the Sudanese army leadership and the Rapid Support Forces. In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a coordination meeting between the Democratic Forces (Taqadum) and Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemeti, has already begun. The meeting aims to discuss a ceasefire agreement between the two major military forces in the country and proposals for a political resolution.

Hamdok revealed on the previous Monday that he had urgently requested a meeting with Burhan and Hemeti to consult on ways to halt the war. This was conveyed through two written messages on behalf of Taqadum, especially since both parties had previously expressed their willingness to negotiate and engage in consultations towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict that erupted in mid-April last year (2023).

It's worth mentioning that the violent fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces erupted after weeks of tension over plans to integrate the Rapid Support Forces into the army, at a time when military and civilian parties were finalizing internationally supported political arrangements.

As of now, regional and international efforts have yet to yield a solution to halt the war, with only intermittent ceasefires that have proved short-lived.