The army in Sudan has rejected a truce in its war against a rival paramilitary during Ramadan, dashing hopes that humanitarian assistance could be delivered to the nation where an estimated 18 million people face acute hunger.
Sudan descended into civil conflict in last April after clashes broke out in the capital Khartoum between the military, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Gen Mohamed Dagalo.
Hopes for a truce were raised at the weekend after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire to coincide with Ramadan, which began on Monday.
The UK-drafted resolution also called on the warring sides to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to the millions of Sudanese facing hunger.
But the army rejected any truce with the RSF, formerly known as the Janjaweed militia, unless it surrendered the territory it has captured from the army.
“No negotiations with the Janjaweed, whether in Ramadan or any other time, before their complete surrender,” said Gen Yasser Al Attah in a speech at a ceremony marking the completion of basic military training by more than 1,000 volunteers in the eastern city of Kassala.
Gen Al Attah said the army would not heed the call for a truce until the RSF had withdrawn from the capital Khartoum and the western regions of Darfur and Kordofan, as well as Al Jazeera to the south of the capital.
The RSF had welcomed the UN resolution but reports emerged of continued fighting in eastern Sudan on Monday.
A series of ceasefires brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US in the early days of the war were ignored or proved short-lived, with both sides seemingly determined to fight on until victory.
The army has generally fared poorly against the RSF during the war, losing much of Khartoum and a string of cities in the west and south of the capital. However, it appears to have recently regained the initiative with strategic battlefield victories in Omdurman in the greater Khartoum area.
The fighting has destroyed much of the capital and displaced about eight million people nationwide. In Sudan's outer regions, each side has accused the other of war crimes against civilians.
The war has also led to a hunger crisis in Sudan.
The UN's World Food Programme said in a report last month that at least 25 million people across the country and in neighbouring South Sudan and Chad are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition due to the war.
The UN agency previously warned that 18 million people were "acutely food insecure" and about 5 million faced starvation.
“Unless this conflict is resolved, unfettered access is granted to humanitarian agencies and funding is received, this crisis will only worsen,” Michael Dunford, the WFP's regional director for Eastern Africa, said in the report.
Unicef, the UN’s women and children agency, has warned the war is pushing Sudan towards famine and a catastrophic loss of life, especially among the young.
Severe malnutrition in children is intensifying beyond its worst projections and there have been outbreaks of cholera, measles and malaria, Unicef said in a report this month.
“There is also evidence of spikes in malnutrition-related child deaths, particularly among the displaced,” it added.
Gen Al Burhan and his one-time ally Gen Dagalo have each sought foreign support and embarked on trips abroad, including to regional heavyweights Egypt and Ethiopia.
Both men have presented themselves as the legitimate leader of Sudan and argued they were fighting to restore the country's democratic transition and bring prosperity.
However, many in Sudan see the war as simply a struggle for political and military supremacy between two generals.
The pair are widely held responsible for indirectly igniting the war when they jointly staged a coup in October 2021 that toppled a civilian-led government that was leading the country’s democratic transition after the removal of dictator Omar Al Bashir in 2019.
The coup plunged the nation into its worst economic crisis in living memory and created a security vacuum that rekindled deadly ethnic rivalries in outlying regions. More than 100 anti-coup protesters were killed by security forces in the months that followed the power grab.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group