\n Sudan's army-backed defence council is set to meet Tuesday to consider a US-backed truce proposal, a government source told AFP, just over a week after paramilitaries overran the key city of El-Fasher.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, appears to be preparing an assault on the central Kordofan region after it captured El-Fasher, the last army stronghold in Darfur, just over a week ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The Security and Defence Council will hold a meeting today to discuss the US truce proposal,\" the source said on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to brief the media.\n<\/p>\n
\n The so-called Quad group -- comprising the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- has been engaged in months of diplomacy aimed at securing a truce in the more than 30-month conflict in Sudan.\n<\/p>\n
\n In September, the four powers proposed a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to civilian rule, hinting at excluding both the army and the RSF from the transitional process.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Sudanese army-aligned government immediately rejected the plan at the time.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the aftermath of the RSF's assault on El-Fasher, reports emerged of mass killings, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting and abductions during the offensive.\n<\/p>\n
\n The International Criminal Court on Monday voiced \"profound alarm and deepest concern\" over such reports, warning that such acts \"may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Massad Boulos, the US president's senior advisor for Africa, held talks in Cairo on Sunday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.\n<\/p>\n
\n During the talks, Abdelatty stressed \"the importance of concerted efforts to reach a humanitarian truce and a ceasefire throughout Sudan, paving the way for a comprehensive political process in the country\", according to a foreign ministry statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Monday, Boulos met Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and briefed him on recent US efforts in Sudan to \"halt the war, expedite aid delivery and initiate a political process\", according to an Arab League statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite repeated international appeals, the warring sides -- both of which are accused of committing atrocities -- have so far ignored calls for a ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UAE is accused by the UN of supplying arms to the RSF -- allegations it has repeatedly denied. Meanwhile, the Sudanese army has received support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran, according to observers.\n<\/p>\n
\n The fall of El-Fasher gave paramilitaries control over all five state capitals in Darfur, raising fears that Sudan would effectively be partitioned along an east-west axis.\n<\/p>\n
\n The RSF now dominates Darfur and parts of the south while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and Red Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sudan's army-backed defence council is set to meet Tuesday to consider a US-backed truce proposal, a government source told AFP, just over a week after paramilitaries overran the key city of El-Fasher. The Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, appears to be preparing an assault on the central Kordofan region […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-151771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n