Sudan's Burhan tells RSF to 'surrender' as mediators meet in Geneva; rival claims over Blue Nile base

Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ruled out negotiations with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at a rally in Wadi Halfa on Tuesday 20 October. “We have nothing to discuss with the rebel militia. Either it lays down its arms and surrenders, or we will finish it off entirely,” he said, Radio Tamazuj reported. He also said former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok would not return to government.

On Wednesday, nearly two dozen countries met in Geneva, co-hosted by the UN and Switzerland, to discuss steps toward a ceasefire and a Sudanese-led political transition, UN News reported. Neither the army-backed government nor the RSF took part. UN envoy Pekka Haavisto said the first session, on de-escalation, would “explore practical ways forward”. Swiss State Secretary Alexandre Fasel said: “The war in Sudan has become a drone war; it kills mostly civilians.” Haavisto was due to meet members of the “Quad” (the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt) on the sidelines.

In Blue Nile state, the RSF-led Sudan Founding Alliance (Tasis) said it had captured the Al-Baraka area and military base near Kurmuk and the Ethiopian border, The Sudan Times reported. The army had earlier said its 4th Infantry Division repelled an attack there. Neither side’s account can be independently confirmed.

Background: The war between the army and the RSF, former allies in a 2021 coup, began in April 2023. The conflict monitor ACLED has recorded at least 59,000 deaths, and the UN says about 13 million people have been forced from their homes, Al Jazeera reported. The UN says almost 34 million people need aid. Earlier this week a drone strike on Amiet market in the disputed Abyei area, which South Sudan blamed on the army, prompted Juba to summon Sudan’s ambassador.