Washington Hosts Indirect Meetings Between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces Amid Escalation in El Fasher

In an important diplomatic development, the U.S. State Department announced that it will host indirect meetings between representatives of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Washington at the end of this month, as part of international efforts to stop the ongoing war in Sudan since April 2023.

This move comes after the "International Quartet" (the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt) proposed a roadmap last month aimed at ending the conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives and caused millions to be displaced.

A U.S. official confirmed to Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that the meetings will last for two days and will be managed by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State in cooperation with regional mediators, paving the way for a broader meeting of the Quartet in Washington.

In contrast, the city of El Fasher is witnessing a serious military escalation, as the Rapid Support Forces launched violent airstrikes with drones and artillery shelling on residential neighborhoods, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of civilians, and the flight of hundreds of families towards displacement camps in North Darfur.

The 6th Infantry Division of the Sudanese army announced that it repelled attacks from three axes, killing dozens of Rapid Support Forces members, including prominent leaders, and destroying combat vehicles.

UN organizations are warning of an imminent humanitarian disaster, as about 30 million people are in urgent need of assistance, including 130,000 children trapped in El Fasher for more than 16 months, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the states of Darfur and Kordofan.