Sudan Nashra: Sudan-US Cairo-mediated talks unsuccessful, Khartoum, Washington trade blame | Military airstrikes intensify across all fronts, civilian casualties mount

As the Geneva negotiations near their conclusion, the parallel consultations in Cairo between the Sudanese government and its United States counterpart have come to a standstill. Initially scheduled for the past week, the talks failed to materialize, with each side holding the other responsible for the breakdown.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Hussein Awad told Mada Masr that part of Sudan's delegation had already arrived in Cairo but noted that US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello failed to bring his technical team. On the other hand, Perriello stated that the Egyptian government had earlier set a date for a meeting with a delegation from Port Sudan, which was canceled after the Sudanese delegation “breached protocols.” 

On the military front, the Sudanese military has ramped up its airstrikes on Rapid Support Forces (RSF) positions across several states this week, including the capital Khartoum, East Darfur, North Darfur, Gezira and Sennar. The airstrikes have resulted in civilian casualties.

The military has also intensified operations in Khartoum, securing some territorial gains in several areas in the southern neighborhoods and seizing RSF military equipment.

In the west, in Darfur’s capital, Fasher, the RSF continues its heavy artillery shelling of civilian areas, resulting in further casualties. Meanwhile, in Sennar, in southeastern Sudan, RSF fighters are still committing violations against civilians. In the RSF-besieged town of Jalgani, the paramilitary group killed 80 people last week.

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Khartoum and Washington trade blame over Cairo talks stalemate

In the absence of the Sudanese government from the Geneva talks, which were launched on August 14, the US, in a parallel move, invited the Sudanese government to hold Egypt-mediated consultations in Cairo. The talks were called off, however, and Perriello left for Geneva on Wednesday. 

A sovereignty council source told Mada Masr that the government and armed movements — signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement — held several consultations to determine the format of their participation in the Cairo talks, which a diplomatic source said have been indefinitely postponed due to the US side's failure to arrive at the scheduled time.

Perriello, for his part, stated on Wednesday that he had met with the Egyptian government, which had scheduled a meeting with a delegation from Port Sudan but said that it was canceled because the delegation breached protocols.

Awad told Mada Masr that Perriello did not specify the nature of the protocol breach, adding that it was Perriello who had violated protocol. Awad said that Perriello arrived early without his technical team, and, while Sudan sent part of its delegation to see to general arrangements, the Egyptian side informed them that the consultations could not proceed.

On Wednesday, the Transitional Sovereignty Council declared its intention to send the rest of its delegation to Cairo after two members had arrived on Monday. The council stressed that these consultations are separate from the Geneva talks. However, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry source told Mada Masr that Perriello was attempting to insert the Cairo meeting into the Geneva agenda, which the Sudanese government has rejected.

The Sudanese delegation, led by Minerals Minister Mohamed Bashir Abu Namo, included representatives from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs and the Sudanese General Intelligence Service. 

Perriello objected to the appointment of Abu Namo — a leadership figure in the Sudan Liberation Movement army — as the delegation head, a source from the Sudanese delegation told Mada Masr, due to his hardline stance on implementing the Jeddah agreement during the Sudan-US consultations in Jeddah on August 9 and the 10th.

Despite Perriello’s statement on the reason behind calling off the talks, another source from the Sudanese delegation told Mada Masr that the government is willing to meet with the US, stressing that this does not conflict with their negotiating stance. The source said that the government believes the US is stalling on discussing Sudan's vision for implementing the Jeddah agreement and moving on to the next phase of negotiations.

The Sudanese government and allied armed movements have maintained a steadfast position, insisting on the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration before taking any further steps. This stance was reiterated by Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meetings with foreign delegations in Port Sudan last week, according to a sovereignty council source who spoke to Mada Masr.

Meanwhile, political forces, including the Civil Front for Democracy, believe that negotiations are imperative at the current time. The front’s spokesperson Bakry al-Jack told Mada Masr that all parties must convene to determine how to implement the agreement and address current issues. He added that they see no obstacles to successful negotiations, but hinted at a lack of will from undisclosed parties.

In his address to a gathering of athletes in Port Sudan on Tuesday, Transitional Sovereignty Council Deputy Chair Malik Agar declared that the battle with the RSF was over and that they were now in a post-RSF phase.

A Sudanese military source told Mada Masr that the armed forces’s operations are separate from political developments, stressing their adherence to orders from the military’s general staff and relevant units. The source added that the military is currently entering a new phase in the field, seeking to cut off RSF supply routes and target their depots.

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Military airstrikes intensify across all fronts

This week saw the most intense airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces in months, with the military targeting RSF positions across several states . 

In East Darfur State, the military launched airstrikes on RSF gatherings in the capital, Daein, which fell to the paramilitary group last November. Local residents told Mada Masr that the airstrikes hit the Daein Hospital and two schools, resulting in civilian casualties. RSF-affiliated armed individuals looted dozens of shops during the airstrikes, the residents said, with some firing into the air to disperse residents and facilitate the looting.

In North Darfur State, a military source told Mada Masr that the airstrikes targeted the northern and eastern outskirts of Fasher, as well as the towns of Kuma and Kabkabiya. Two individuals were killed and six others were injured in airstrikes on the Nasr and Takamul neighborhoods in eastern Fasher, a medical source told Mada Masr.

Meanwhile, Fasher continues to endure RSF artillery shelling, which has resulted in additional civilian casualties.

A source from the Sixth Infantry Division in Fasher told Mada Masr that the RSF focused its attacks last week on Relief International’s medication warehouses. The strikes caused extensive damage to the building, burned several vehicles and destroyed medications. The shelling also hit the Sheikh Moussa mosque, injuring seven worshippers.

Since May 10, Fasher has been an intense battleground as the RSF desperately attempts to capture the city, which remains one of the last strategic strongholds under the military and its allied armed movements. They have thus far managed to defend the city, inflicting losses on the RSF in both personnel and equipment.

In central Sudan’s Gezira State, the military’s Air Force targeted locations in the Marengan neighborhood of the capital, Wad Madani, on Wednesday and struck sites in the city of Hasaheisa on Tuesday.

In Sennar State, airstrikes concentrated on Jabal Moya and RSF gatherings at the Um Dafasu market, Singa’s popular market and other areas in Karkoj and Dindar. Local residents told Mada Masr that the RSF continues to impose a siege on the village of Jalgani, which witnessed massacres last week. They also said that the RSF completely overran the village of Beida in the Dindar area. According to the Sudanese Doctors’ Network, six people were killed and ten others were injured in the attack, which also resulted in the looting of the village’s only health center.

On Wednesday, the military denied reports circulating in local media outlets that it had received new K8 fighter jets from Egypt.

The military spokesperson said that the Sudanese military has possessed fleets of these Chinese-made aircraft since the early 2000s, having acquired them directly from China two decades before the current war. The statement stressed that Sudan does not require assistance from any allied nation to obtain more of these jets, which are primarily used for pilot training.

Local media had reported that Egypt supported the Sudanese military with eight K8 fighter jets, which allegedly arrived in Port Sudan on August 14.

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Khartoum battles

Since late last week, the intensity of the battles in Sudan's tri-city capital, Khartoum, has escalated, particularly in Omdurman to the west, where the military is attempting to expand its control and gain new ground in the neighborhoods of Ombada. Meanwhile, the RSF continued their artillery assault on the Thawrat neighborhoods and the Reef al-Shamali area of the Karrari locality.

A medical source told Mada Masr that one person was killed and 20 others were injured in the RSF's artillery shelling in the area on Wednesday.

A military source told Mada Masr that the Armored Corps’ special operations forces have expanded their control in the Gabra neighborhood in southern Khartoum. The source said that several RSF snipers were killed and RSF positions in the Doha, Martyr Taha al-Mahi and Bagrawi blocks, as well as the Yathrib neighborhood in Shagara, were targeted.

The source said that the military captured the Doha park in Gabra and conducted combing operations in the area, resulting in the capture of heavy artillery, weapons, and ammunition, and the killing of dozens of RSF fighters.

The Sudanese Air Force carried out consecutive airstrikes for three days starting August 16 in Khartoum, targeting RSF gatherings at the central market. Eyewitnesses told Mada Masr that there were civilians among the casualties, noting that the market remains one of the largest still operating in RSF-controlled areas of the capital.

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Renewed fighting between the military and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) in South Kordofan

Clashes have reignited in South Kordofan between the military and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, particularly in the city of Dalang.

A field source told Mada Masr that the military has captured the Jabal Kadar camp, which was held by the faction, following intense battles. The source also noted that the military seized weapons and ammunition during the operation. 

The SPLM-N (al-Hilu) entered the war in June 2023, capturing several Sudanese military garrisons in South Kordofan. However, the two rivals have occasionally aligned in the faction’s strongholds that have faced RSF incursions. 

The June clashes marked the first major confrontation between the military and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) since the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, a period during which both sides had been annually renewing a ceasefire agreement.

The conflict between the two parties dates to 2011, and has continued in the South Kordofan and southern Blue Nile states. Since the outbreak of conflict with the Sudanese government that year, the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) has maintained control over extensive areas in the two states.

In May, both parties entered negotiations in the South Sudanese capital of Juba to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to SPLM-N (al-Hilu) strongholds in the South Kordofan and southern Blue Nile, as well as state-controlled areas in the two states. However, the military is pushing to expand the agreement into a formal ceasefire.