WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2023) The African Union should keep pressing the parties to the conflict in Sudan to stop clashes in the country, the US State Department said in a statement after talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki.
"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat today about U.S.-AU collaboration to create a sustainable cessation of hostilities and end the fighting in Sudan," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
"Secretary Blinken and Chairperson Faki agreed that the AU's continued leadership remains essential in pressing the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately cease military operations and allow unhindered humanitarian access," Miller said.
On April 15, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, issued a decree disbanding the RSF. The sides agreed to a three-day truce starting April 21 in connection with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry has said. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has reported over 450 deaths and said more than 4,000 people had been injured.
