NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 17 — The United States, United Kingdom and Norway have condemned escalating clashes in Sudan’s Darfur region deploring rights violations in an ongoing armed conflict.
The Troika, in a joint statement issued on Friday, singled out attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in West, Central and South Darfur.
“These [attacks] have included – according to credible reports – mass killings including ethnic targeting of non-Arab and other communities, killings of traditional leaders, unjust detentions, and obstruction of humanitarian aid,” the Troika stated.
“We are also concerned by reports of violence in the town of Jebel Aulia, on the White Nile River, where there are reports of targeting of civilians,” the joint statement added.
The Troika renewed calls for concerted efforts to return the country to a civilian rule saying a military solution was not an option.
“We reiterate that there is no acceptable military solution to the conflict, and call for an end to the fighting,” it said.
“We urge the RSF and SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) to refrain from actions that would further divide Sudan along ethnic lines or draw other forces into their conflict,” the triad appealed.
The United States, United Kingdom and Norway emphasized on the need by the two warring parties to “deescalate and engage in meaningful discussions that lead to a ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access.”
The three nations voiced their support for resumption of talks under the Jeddah Process facilitated jointly by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which Kenya is part of.
The talks resume at a time Nairobi has renewed its push for “a framework for an all-inclusive dialogue” following humanitarian commitments made by parties to the conflict on November 7.
Urgent talks
Kenya’s President William Ruto on Monday called for an urgent need to find a lasting solution entailing an accelerated process to achieve cessation of hostilities.
Ruto made the call when he hosted General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan, at State House in Nairobi.
Subsequently, Ruto hosted Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of a civilian authority replaced by General al-Burhan, on Thursday.
Ruto said Hamdok, who led Sudan following a coup unseating President Omar al Bashir in 2019, briefed him on the political processes in Sudan towards resolution of the conflict.
General al-Burhan is engaged in a vicious battled with General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemetti”, the leader of RSF, who deputized him in the transitional sovereign council before a fallout in April 2023.
Al-Burhan had contested Kenya’s leadership of an IGAD quartet comprising Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan tasked to lead peace talks citing Nairobi’s characterization of the conflict as “fighting between two generals”.
“The way in which the Kenyan government deals with the mediation file contradicts with the basic principles of the IGAD, represented in respecting the sovereignty of states,” the al-Burhan-run Foreign Ministry in Sudan said in June.
Kenya, like the US-led Troika, has insisted on and end to violence and a return a democratically elected government.
“Achieving a sustainable solution requires ending violence and resuming a civilian-owned political process to form a civilian government and restore Sudan’s democratic transition,” United States, United Kingdom and Norway emphasized on Friday.
