The United Nations (UN) envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, has stated that there are no indications that the warring parties in Sudan are prepared to seriously negotiate an end to the conflict. Perthes made this remark on Tuesday during a UN Security Council meeting in New York City. He further stated that both sides in the conflict believe that they can secure a victory, but that this is a miscalculation on their part. Speaking via video link from Port Sudan in the country’s east, Perthes said that there is yet no unequivocal sign that either side is ready to negotiate, suggesting that both think securing a military victory is possible.
Perthes also spoke about the 72-hour ceasefire that was partially holding, stating that fighting had continued in key areas despite the ceasefire being in effect since Tuesday. He described the ceasefire as “holding in some parts so far” but also reported continuing reports of fighting and movement of troops.
Perthes denounced the disregard for the laws and norms of war shown by both parties in the conflict. According to him, densely populated areas, hospitals, and vehicles transferring the wounded and sick have been attacked. This, in turn, has created a humanitarian catastrophe with civilians bearing the brunt.
The conflict has seen hundreds of people dead, thousands wounded, and civilian infrastructure attacked, including hospitals. Residential areas in Khartoum have become battlefields where gun and tank fire, air attacks, and artillery shelling have cut power and water and limited food distribution in a nation where a third of its 46 million people had already relied on food aid.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the violence and chaos in Sudan as “heart-breaking,” warned the UN meeting on Tuesday that the fighting could spread to other countries in the region. Sudan borders seven countries, all of which have either been involved in conflict or seen serious civil unrest over the past decade, he said.
Despite the ceasefire, fighting could be heard late on Tuesday with gunfire and explosions reported after nightfall in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city across the Nile River, where the army used drones to target RSF positions. The army also used drones to try to drive fighters back from a fuel refinery in Bahri, the third city at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile.
Al Jazeera’s diplomatic correspondent, James Bays, reported from UN headquarters in New York City that Guterres had painted a very dismal and pessimistic picture of the situation on the ground in Sudan, particularly with regard to the conflict spreading. Bays said that there was already a humanitarian crisis in the country before the current fighting, but the situation is now much worse amid the shaky ceasefire. The word on the ground about the current ceasefire is that it is very patchy, sporadic, and only holding in part, he added.
