Sudanese Foreign Minister Ramadan Mohamed Abdullah of South Sudan announced that the Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has arrived in Juba for discussions with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the ongoing peace process in South Sudan.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the peace negotiations in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
During his visit, Al-Burhan is scheduled to meet with key South Sudanese peace stakeholders, including First Vice President Riek Machar and leaders from the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), as well as other parties involved in the peace talks.
Sudanese media sources also reported that Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will join Al-Burhan and Salva Kiir in a summit to discuss regional peace efforts.
Al-Burhan was accompanied on his trip to Juba by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Petroleum, as South Sudan continues to face challenges in exporting its oil through northern Sudan, a process hindered by the ongoing conflict.
Ongoing Conflict
Al-Burhan’s visit comes amid continued fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces in various regions. Local sources told Al Jazeera that the RSF launched heavy artillery attacks on neighborhoods in the western part of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
In Khartoum, local sources reported that Sudanese military aircraft bombed RSF positions in Khartoum Bahri, in the northern part of the capital. Witnesses noted plumes of smoke rising from the targeted sites following the aerial strikes, as the RSF remains widely deployed in the city, which they have controlled for over a year. The army is attempting to regain control of these key positions.
On Sunday, at least 40 civilians were killed in an RSF attack on a village in central Sudan, according to an unofficial popular committee.
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF have been engaged in a brutal conflict that has resulted in the deaths of around 16,650 people and displaced millions.
The conflict has sparked international and UN-led calls for an end to the fighting, as the country faces a looming humanitarian catastrophe, with millions at risk of starvation and death due to food shortages exacerbated by the war, which has spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states.
