UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has condemned the violence from the power struggle between two generals in Sudan and associated violence escalated on Saturday and Sunday, with at least dozens of civilians and soldiers killed.

On Saturday morning, the senior officials were responding to the outbreak of armed clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in many parts of the capital Khartoum and other areas outside the capital.

According to media reports, the RSF claimed it had taken control of Khartoum international airport, Merowe Airport, al-Obeid Airport and the presidential palace.

The RSF, an independent Sudanese military force, grew out of the Janjaweed militia, formerly active in the Darfur region of the country. The organisation has been involved in talks to transition from military rule since the 2021 military coup to a civilian government.

Mr Guterres, in a statement by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, called for the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to “immediately cease hostilities.

The UN chief called on them to restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis and for Member States in the region to support efforts to restore order and return to the path of transition to civilian rule. 

Mr Dujarric said Mr Guterres had spoken to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the African Union, on how to de-escalate the situation.

He added that the secretary general also spoke to the leaders of the two opposing military sides, Abdel Fattah Al Burhan of the Sudanese Army and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF.

The integration of the RSF into the armed forces has been one of the issues under discussion, as part of a UN-backed political agreement reached in February, following months of negotiations.

However, during a Security Council briefing on March 20, Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), warned that tensions between the Sudanese Army and the RSF have risen in recent weeks, and called for de-escalation.

In his statement on the current fighting, Mr Perthes reached out to both parties, asking them to immediately cease fighting to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and spare the country from further violence.

Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressed similar fears. 

In a tweet, Griffiths said that more violence would only make things worse for the nearly 16 million people, around a third of the population, in need of humanitarian aid.

Also, in a tweet, Volker Türk, the UN rights chief, expressed alarm at the unfolding situation, noting that the people of Sudan “deserve better.”

(NAN)