Envoys from Sudan’s warring military factions – the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – were in Jeddah for talks on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said, as international mediators pressed for an end to the three-week-old conflict.

The U.S.-Saudi initiative is the first serious attempt to end fighting that has turned parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum into war zones and derailed an internationally backed plan to usher in civilian rule following years of unrest and uprisings.

Riyadh and Washington earlier welcomed the “pre-negotiation talks” between the army and the RSF and urged them to actively engage following numerous violated ceasefires.

But both sides have made it clear they would only discuss a humanitarian truce, not negotiate an end to the war.

Confirming his group’s attendance, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, said he hoped the talks would secure safe passage for civilians.

Sudan’s armed forces said they sent a delegation to the Red Sea city on Friday evening, but special envoy Dafallah Alhaj said the army would not sit down directly with any delegation that the “rebellious” RSF might send.

Hemedti has meanwhile vowed to either capture or kill army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and there was also evidence on the ground that both sides remain unwilling to make compromises to end the bloodshed.

Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan said in a tweet he hoped both sides would “engage in dialogue that we hope will lead to the end of the conflict”.

In the city of Bahri across the Nile from Khartoum, warplanes were heard overnight, and explosions startled residents.

“We don’t leave the house because we’re scared of stray bullets,” said a resident named Ahmed.

A witness in Eastern Khartoum reported gun clashes and air strikes over residential areas on Saturday.

The Turkish ambassador’s car also came under fire from unknown assailants, a Turkish diplomatic source said. The envoy was safe inside the embassy.

The conflict erupted on April 15 following the collapse of an internationally backed plan for a transition to democracy.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was travelling to Saudi Arabia at the weekend for talks with Saudi leaders.

Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Messrs Burhan and Hemedti, who sent troops to help the Saudi-led coalition in its war against the Houthi group in Yemen.

The kingdom also focuses on security in the Red Sea, which it shares with Sudan.

The UN has significantly cut back its operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed, and its warehouses were looted, and sought guarantees of safe passage of humanitarian aid.

The World Health Organisation said on Saturday it had delivered medical aid to Port Sudan but was awaiting security and access clearances that have prevented several such shipments from reaching Khartoum, where the few functioning hospitals are running out of supplies.

(Reuters/NAN)