The UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly denounced recent violence in Sudan and called on rival military factions in the African country to end the fighting that broke out in several parts of the capital city Khartoum and other areas outside the capital, his spokesman said Saturday.
"The UN chief calls on the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis and for Member States in the region to support efforts to restore order and return to the path of transition to civilian rule,” his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.
The Spokesperson continued that the Secretary-General also spoke to the leaders of the two opposing military sides – Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan of the Sudanese Army, and Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF – calling for an immediate stop to the violence and a return to dialogue, and offering his good offices, in close coordination with ongoing efforts to restore security and conclude the ongoing political process.
"The integration of the RSF into the armed forces has been one of the issues under discussion, as part of a UN-backed political agreement reached in February, following months of negotiations", he noted.
The Spokesperson further mentioned that Mr. Guterres had spoken to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the President of the African Union, on how to de-escalate the situation.
Since the early hours of Saturday morning, fierce clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have raged in the capital of Khartoum, leading to at least 56 people have been killed.
The RSF claimed control of several key locations, including the presidential palace and Merowe military base.
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