Sudan's army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting since April 15, 2023. | File photo/AFP

The deputy head of Sudan’s ruling council, Malik Agar, has welcomed negotiations for a further ceasefire but said no truce can hold until all forces are withdrawn from the capital.

There’s been an alarming escalation of violence in Khartoum and in the western Darfur region since the negotiations in Saudi Arabia broke down last week.

Both the army and the rival paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused each other of violating the truce, but negotiators have remained in Jeddah.

Mr Agar said the talks there represented the best hope of ending the fighting.

Sudanese military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan recently appointed Mr Agar, a former rebel leader, to replace his former deputy Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who heads the RSF.

Most of the troops in Khartoum are RSF fighters, and the army appears to have resumed its attempts to blast them out of the positions they’re holding.