Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan is holding talks in Saudi Arabia as calls to end fighting in the country's civil war intensify.
SAF has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. The RSF controls all of Darfur and parts of Kordofan, while the armed forces retain control of the capital, Khartoum, and the eastern, central, and northern regions of the country.
Mr Al Burhan has rejected calls for a ceasefire and vowed to keep fighting until the RSF is defeated. He also criticised US envoy Massad Boulos and described the work of the Quad group, comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and the US, as biased. He has been sanctioned by the US and accused of allowing his troops to use chemical weapons and blocking aid to certain regions.
Hopes for a breakthrough in talks on Sudan's war were rekindled last month when US President Donald Trump said he would help end the conflict after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to intervene during a visit to Washington. But Mr Al Burhan’s insistence on not ending the war until the RSF is completely eradicated has created a greater challenge for US diplomacy.
The civil war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
UN officials will meet Sudan's warring parties in Geneva, Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced last week, without disclosing a date for the discussions.
On Saturday, a drone strike hit a UN facility in war-torn Sudan, killing six peacekeepers. The strike hit the UN peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres had said in a statement at the time. Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, UNISFA.
