The peace talks in Jeddah between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been suspended by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediators over repeated violations of the truce.
The Jeddah peace efforts were already dealt a blow on Wednesday after the Sudanese army pulled out of the negotiations – accusing the RSF of violating the humanitarian ceasefire and failing to implement the commitments it had made during the negotiations.
But the RSF accused the military of violating the cease-fire first.
“This decision [to suspend the talks] comes as a result of repeated serious violations of the ceasefire by the Sudanese army and the RSF,” a statement from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced.
The talks with the rival forces of the army and RSF militia began in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah in early May and produced a declaration of commitments to protecting civilians and two short-term ceasefire deals that have been repeatedly violated.
According to AL Jazeera, the army and the RSF had agreed to extend a weeklong ceasefire deal by five days just before it was due to expire late on Monday.
However, the general command of the armed forces said in a statement on Wednesday that it suspended talks, accusing the other side of a lack of commitment to implementing any terms of the agreement and a continuous violation of the ceasefire.
“The General Command of the Armed Forces has decided to suspend the current talks in Jeddah due to the rebel militia’s lack of commitment to the implementation of any of the terms of the agreement and its continued violation of the ceasefire,” SAF General Command said as reported by Sudan News Agency website.
The African Union spokesperson told AFP news agency that the suspension of talks should not frustrate further attempts to return to negotiation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. on Thursday announced sanctions on Sudanese leaders and their companies, blamed for the collapse of US and Saudi-brokered ceasefire efforts.
The US Treasury placed two major arms companies of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Defense Industries System and Sudan Master Technology on its blacklist.
In parallel, it placed sanctions on gold miner Al Junaid Multi Activities Co and arms trader Tradive General Trading, two companies controlled by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo and his family.
Since fighting erupted on April 15, more than 1,800 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
The UN says 1.2 million people have been internally displaced and more than 425,000 have fled abroad.