Despite foreign diplomatic moves seeking to end the fighting, the Sudanese welcomed the new year in the wake of clashes.

No New Year celebrations, but explosions

Powerful explosions occurred in the capital, Khartoum, and Sennar State, in the southeast of the country, with renewed battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, in which heavy artillery, warplanes, and drones were used.

The New Year celebrations also disappeared in the streets of the capital and other cities as a result of the war, and the imposition of a curfew in the relatively safe cities in the north and east of the country.

In Khartoum, eyewitnesses reported that artillery shelling targeted the neighborhoods surrounding the Armored Corps south of the city, with strong explosions being heard from the place.

Witnesses also reported that the army carried out drone strikes on a number of Rapid Support Forces positions in the neighborhoods of East Khartoum and East Nile in the city of Khartoum Bahri.

Hemedti: The war in Sudan will end soon

For its part, the Rapid Support Forces bombed the headquarters of the Army General Command and the Signal Corps in the city of Khartoum Bahri, leading to heavy columns of smoke.

The situation was not much different in Sennar State, where the Rapid Support Forces were advancing after taking control of Al-Jazeera State in central Sudan a few days ago, as clashes took place between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in the morning.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict

It is noteworthy that former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok issued an invitation last week to communicate with both the Sudanese army leadership and the Rapid Support Forces.

Hemedti: We do not want power by force, and we do not intend for Rapid Support to be an alternative to the Sudanese army

Today, Monday, the Ethiopian capital actually witnessed the beginning of a meeting of the Democratic Forces Coordination (Taqaddum) with the support leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, nicknamed Hemedti. The meeting will discuss the ceasefire process between the two major military forces in the country, and proposals to advance a political solution.

Hamdok revealed last Monday that he requested an urgent meeting with Al-Burhan and Hemedti for the purpose of consulting on ways to stop the war, in two written letters on behalf of “Taqaddum”, especially since the two parties had previously expressed their agreement to negotiate and hold consultations with the aim of reaching a peaceful solution. For the conflict that broke out in mid-April (2023).

It is noteworthy that the violent fighting between the army and the Rapid Support broke out after weeks of tension, due to disagreements over plans to integrate the Rapid Support into the ranks of the army, at a time when the military and civilian parties were putting the final touches on an internationally supported political process.

While regional and international efforts have not succeeded so far in reaching a solution to stop the war, they were satisfied several months ago with some intermittent truces that did not last long