KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2023) Sudanese armed forces are carrying out airstrikes against positions of rival Rapid Support Forces' (RSF) paramilitary group near Sudan's capital Khartoum despite ongoing peace talks in Saudi Arabia, eyewitnesses told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Sudanese military is using aircraft and artillery to strike RSF support posts in Khartoum's suburbs Omdurman and Bakhri and in the capital's city center, the witnesses said.
On Sunday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that peace negotiations began in the Saudi city of Jeddah on May 6 between the delegations of the Sudanese armed forces and RSF in order to reach an effective short-term ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian assistance.
On April 15, violent clashes broke out between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, with the epicenter located in Khartoum. The 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 parties have since introduced a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires but the conflict has not been settled yet.
So far, around 604 people have died and over 5,000 injured in the clashes in Sudan, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
