RIYADH — Saudi Arabia and the United States of America expressed their deep regret over the return of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to violence immediately after the end of the 24-hour ceasefire. In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia and US urged the warring parties for the immediate cessation of hostility and find a solution to the conflict through negotiations. The statement came following the eruption of heavy clashes and artillery fire across Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, on Sunday. Riyadh and Washington were successful in bringing the two warring parties to negotiation table in May after heavy fighting broke out between the two sides in April. The negotiations, brokered by Saudi and US, resulted in signing the Jeddah Declaration aimed at ending conflict and establishing peace in the country. In the statement, the facilitators (Saudi and US) stressed that the military solution to the conflict is unacceptable, and that they strongly condemn the violent acts. They announced that the SAF and the RSF demonstrated effective command and control of their forces during the ceasefire period that took place on June 10, which led to a decrease in the intensity of the fighting and its decline throughout Sudan. It also enabled the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the distressed people, in addition to taking some confidence-building measures. Saudi and US also affirmed that they are ready to resume the talks as soon as the two parties to the conflict demonstrate their adherence to what they had agreed upon in the Jeddah Declaration. The statement noted that the facilitators will work to coordinate with regional and international partners to stop the fighting and bring down its impact on the region, as well as to intensify coordination with the relevant Sudanese civilian authorities to ensure their participation in shaping the future of Sudan. It is noteworthy that violent clashes, using heavy weapons, erupted in Khartoum on Sunday, after the end of a one-day ceasefire. The people of Khartoum woke up to the sounds of renewed artillery shelling and clashes in various parts of the capital, with the end of the 24-hour truce between the army and the paramilitary forces, which provided them with calm that they had not experienced since the start of the conflict about two months ago. Witnesses in Khartoum confirmed hearing the sounds of shelling and clashes 10 minutes after the end of the ceasefire. Half an hour after the end of the 24-hour truce, loud explosions and clashes were heard in the center of Khartoum and clashes in the east of the Nile, as well as the sound of artillery fires in the north of Omdurman. Iman Traboulsi, regional spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said that the committee's protection teams in Sudan received constant calls to report cases of missing and disappearance of members of Sudanese families, since the start of the fighting on April 15. She said that the search for the reported missing persons is continuing, but it faces many obstacles in Sudan, the most prominent of which is the continuation of the fighting that hinders the investigation operations, in addition to the scarcity of medical capabilities and resources that impede the identification or recovery of the bodies. More than 1800 people have been reported killed since the clashes broke out between the army and RSF in mid-April, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). But the actual number of victims may be more, according to relief agencies and international organizations.
