Khartoum, May 4 (Alliance News):The UN chief on Wednesday said “we failed” to stop war from erupting in Sudan, where persistent fighting between rival generals undermined efforts to firm up a truce.
“The UN was taken by surprise” by the conflict, because the world body and others were hopeful that negotiations towards a civilian transition would be successful, Antonio Guterres told reporters in Nairobi.
“To the extent that we and many others were not expecting this to happen, we can say we failed to avoid it to happen,” the secretary general said.
“A country like Sudan, that has suffered so much… cannot afford a struggle for power between two people.”
Deadly urban combat broke out on April 15 between Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commands the regular army, and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At least 550 people have been killed and 4,926 wounded, according to the latest health ministry figures, which are likely incomplete.