Addis Ababa [Africa], April 16: Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa FakiMahamat has called for a ceasefire in Sudan amid armed clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a Saturday statement from the union.
The AU Commission chairperson "has continued to follow very closely and with deep concern the developments" in Sudan, urging the political parties, civilians, and military in the country to find a consensual solution to the crisis, it said.
The chairperson said the situation is "going dangerously out of control" as parties are resorting to armed violence as a means of resolving political differences.
"At this moment of extreme gravity, the Chairperson of the AUC urges all components of the international community to combine, in unity and urgency, their efforts to bring the parties to immediately cease military actions and return to the negotiating table towards an end to the crisis that is satisfactory for all," the statement concluded.
Armed clashes erupted Saturday in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other areas following days of tension between the RSF and the national army.
The RSF claimed that they had seized strategic sites in the capital city, including the airport.
The army has previously warned against the RSF deployment in Khartoum and other cities without its approval.
Sudan has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in October 2021 and dissolved the sovereign council as well as the government.
Source: Xinhua