Sudan truce efforts in tatters
Gunfire and explosions gripped Khartoum for a 20th straight day yesterday leaving the latest ceasefire effort in tatters, as UN chief Antonio Guterres acknowledged the international community had "failed" Sudan and US President Joe Biden threatened sanctions.
Biden yesterday said the weeks-long fighting in Sudan "must end" and authorised potential new sanctions against those responsible for the bloodshed.
"The violence taking place in Sudan is a tragedy -- and it is a betrayal of the Sudanese people's clear demand for civilian government and a transition to democracy," he said in a statement. "It must end."
As the latest ceasefire expired at midnight Wednesday, the regular army said it was ready to abide by a new seven-day truce agreed with South Sudanese mediators, but there was no word from its foes in the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In Khartoum, witnesses reported loud explosions and exchanges of fire on the streets around dawn.
Deadly urban combat broke out on April 15 between Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commands the regular army, and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the RSF.
At least 550 people have been killed and 4,926 wounded, according to the latest health ministry figures.
"The UN was taken by surprise" by the conflict, because the world body and others were hopeful that negotiations towards a civilian transition would be successful, the UN chief told reporters in Nairobi Wednesday.
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