KHARTOUM: Artillery blasts rang out Wednesday in Khartoum, after the Sudanese army suspended its participation in US and Saudi-brokered ceasefire talks, accusing its paramilitary foes of failing to honour their commitments.
The mediators of the talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah have acknowledged repeated violations of the truce by both sides but have so far held off imposing any sanctions in the hope of keeping the warring parties at the negotiating table.
The army walked out "because the rebels have never implemented a single one of the provisions of a short-term ceasefire which required their withdrawal from hospitals and residential buildings", a Sudanese government official said.
It also took the decision because the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had "repeatedly violated the truce", added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The mediators admitted the truce had been "imperfectly observed" but said the extension "will permit further humanitarian efforts".
But despite the pledges of both sides, fighting flared again on Tuesday both in greater Khartoum and in the flashpoint western region of Darfur.
"The army is ready to fight until victory," army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared during a visit to troops in the capital.
The RSF, led by Burhan's deputy-turned-foe Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, said they would "exercise their right to defend themselves" and accused the army of violating the truce.
The health ministry said Wednesday that "nine health facilities" had gone out of service in Jazira state, just south of Khartoum, "despite the declared truce".
In a statement, the ministry said the closures were due to "the presence of RSF militias threatening the movement of medical personnel and supplies".
Many families have continued to hide out in their homes, rationing water and electricity while trying desperately to avoid stray gunfire in the city of more than five million people.
In Darfur, on Sudan's western border with Chad, continued fighting "blatantly disregards ceasefire commitments", said Toby Harward, of the UN refugee agency.
The persistent fighting has impeded delivery of the aid and protection needed by a record 25 million people, more than half the population, according to the UN. — AFP
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