US 'deeply concerned' by SAF rhetoric and preconditions for truce in Sudan

The United States is “deeply concerned” by the rhetoric and stance taken by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) over a truce in Sudan, a State Department spokesman said on Tuesday.

Over the past week, SAF chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has increased his insistence that the war, now deep into its third year, will only end when the rival paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is defeated.

“The United States is deeply concerned by rhetoric from Sudanese Armed Forces leadership calling for military solutions to the crisis and preconditions for any truce,” Tommy Pigott, the State Department's deputy spokesman, said on X.

Speaking during an official visit to Turkey on Sunday, Gen Al Burhan dismissed the possibility of a political solution that does not include the disarmament of the RSF.

“We are not talking about a military solution … we said the military solution does not necessarily have to end with fighting; it can end with surrender,” he told the Sudanese community in Turkey.

Mr Pigott said: “As tens of millions of Sudanese suffer, Sudan's military leaders should be pursuing a path towards peace, not continued conflict.”

Attempts by the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt − known as the Quad − to broker a humanitarian truce have not succeeded so far.

Gen Al Burhan has rejected a three-month humanitarian truce and insists the war will continue until the RSF surrenders. He also criticised the US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, and described the work of the Quad as biased.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, greeting Sudan's army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan in Ankara on December 25. AFP

“Achieving a durable and stable peace requires negotiated arrangements that bring an immediate end to the violence,” Mr Pigott added.

The US has repeatedly urged both warring sides to accept a proposal for an immediate, unconditional humanitarian truce.

Echoing US concerns, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, said: “The recent statements by the Burhan team reflect a continued evasion of responsibility for ending the civil war,” particularly “at a time when Sudanese people and the international community are demanding a cessation of fighting”.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict between SAF and the RSF, and more than 12 million have been displaced. Half of Sudan's population − about 25 million − is facing hunger, with pockets of famine surfacing in parts of the country.

Both sides have been accused of atrocities.