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Sudanese army suspends ceasefire talks with paramilitary forces: military source
Updated 23:07, 31-May-2023
CGTN
Smoke rises in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, April 15, 2023. /Xinhua
Smoke rises in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, April 15, 2023. /Xinhua

Smoke rises in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, April 15, 2023. /Xinhua

The Sudanese army delegation on Wednesday suspended its participation in ongoing negotiations with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, a senior military source said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspension was not a withdrawal from the negotiations but an expression of the army's rejection of the continued and repeated RSF violations of the short-term ceasefire agreement.

The source also said the RSF has not fulfilled its commitments to withdrawing from civilian areas, including hospitals and neighborhoods.

The Sudanese army and the RSF agreed to extend a weeklong ceasefire agreement by five days before it was due to expire on Monday.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported clashes on Wednesday morning in the Al-Mohandiseen district in Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum. The army closed the Al-Fatihab bridge linking Khartoum and Omdurman while warplanes flew over the area.

The RSF accused the Sudanese army of violating the truce in a statement on Wednesday, saying, "The army bombarded our positions in Khartoum."

The third meeting of the Expanded Mechanism on the Sudan Crisis was held at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Wednesday to discuss the next steps regarding the situation in Sudan.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the army and the RSF in the capital, Khartoum, and other areas since April 15.

More than 800 people have been killed, and nearly 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes since the conflict began, with more than one million people internally displaced and about 345,000 people crossing into neighboring countries for safety, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in its latest report on Sunday.

(With input from Xinhua)

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