DUBAI: Senior Sudanese armed forces Gen. Yasser Al-Atta on Sunday said there will be no peace in Sudan in the holy month of Ramadan unless the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group leaves the civilian sites.
The statement comes after an appeal by the UN Security Council for a pause in fighting. The paramilitary RSF said it welcomed the call for the ceasefire.
Atta’s statement, released on the army’s official Telegram channel, recalled recent military advances by the army in Omdurman, city of Sudan.
It said there could be no pause in fighting unless the RSF complied with a pledge made in May last year at talks in Jeddah to withdraw from civilian homes and public facilities.
It also agreed that there should be no role for Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF leader in Sudan’s future politics.
The conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF started in April 2023 after tensions over a plan for transition to democratic rule of the African state.
The two sides staged a coup in 2021 that derailed a previous transition after the 2019 overthrow of former leader Omar Bashir.
The RSF has captured large areas of Sudanese capital in the first days of conflict.
According to the UN nearly 25 million people, half Sudan’s population need assistance, some 8 million have fled their homes. The US has also accused the warring parties of committing war crimes.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres has also urged a truce.
Sudan’s ambassador to the UN told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the head of the army Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan praised Guterres’ appeal, but was wondering how it could be reached.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry, has said that for to make any ceasefire appeal successful, the RSF should to withdraw from areas including El-Gezira and Sennar states and several cities in Darfur.
