By William Madouk
President Salva Kiir has yet again assured Sudanese of his commitment to restore peace and stability in Sudan.
Kenyan President William Ruto had mid this month replaced Salva Kiir as Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) lead-mediator on Sudan conflict, but Gen. Burhan protested the change.
On Monday, President Kiir and the deputy chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Malik Agar converged for a meeting on the latest situation.
Eventually, President Kiir reiterated his commitment to restoration of peace and stability in Sudan, which he expressed in a statement posted on the presidential Facebook page.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media after the meeting, Malik Agar said he also briefed President Kiir on his recent visits to neighboring countries affected by the Sudan crisis.
However, presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak Manime, said President Kiir is closely following the situation in Sudan.
Mr. Tut added that Kiir is continuously engaging the warring leaders to end the conflict by embracing dialogue as a viable means to settle the misunderstandings.
Violence in Sudan erupted on April 15 between Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese army, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known better as Hemedti, the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Fighting continued to intensify though series of ceasefire deals negotiated by Saudi Arabia and the United States in talks at Jeddah that were suspended last week.
The war has caused a major humanitarian crisis, uprooting more than 2.5 million people, about 600,000 of whom have crossed into neighboring countries.
Most have headed north to Egypt or west into Chad and South Sudan, where refugees have sought shelter from ethnically motivated attacks and clashes in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Sudan’s army confirmed on Monday that the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had taken the main base of a well-equipped police brigade in Khartoum, and there were reports of fighting spreading for the first time to Blue Nile state near Ethiopia, according to Reuters.
The RSF said it had captured dozens of armored vehicles and pickup trucks after seizing the Central Reserve Police headquarters on Sunday, consolidating its position in southern Khartoum, where several important military camps are situated.
The army had leant on the Central Reserve Police for ground fighting in Khartoum, where it has struggled to counter mobile RSF units, which quickly spread out across the city once fighting erupted on April 15.
The army said in a statement that the Central Reserve police base had been taken after three days of fighting, accusing the RSF of attacking “state institutions”.
Also on Monday, residents on social media reported an attack by the SPLM-N, Sudan’s most powerful rebel group, in the city of Kurmuk in Blue Nile State, on the border with Ethiopia. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Last week, the SPLM-N clashed with the army in South Kordofan State, raising fears the conflict could spread across Sudan’s southern regions.