Sudan’s former civilian government alliance calls for immediate end to war

Sudan's main civilian bloc has urged an end to war in the country as fighting between two powerful military blocs passes more than 100 days.

Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), an alliance of civic groups who briefly shared power in Sudan with the army as part of transitional rule of the country from 2019 to 2021, made the plea after a two-day conference in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The FFC said in a statement released after the end of the conference on Tuesday that it "condemned the gross violations of human rights" committed by both the Sudanese army and the opposing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary.

"The meeting emphasised the need to launch a political process leading to an immediate cessation of war and an effective response to resolve the humanitarian disaster resulting from war," according to the statement.

"The war of 15 April must be the last war and we work to end it by addressing the roots of our national and historical crises."

The FFC was ousted from power in a 2021 coup orchestrated by Sudanese army leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and head of the RSF Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — who are now leaders of opposing sides in the ongoing war.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since war broke out on 15 April. Human rights abuses including kidnappings, arbitrary arrests and looting have also ensued.

Egypt has played host to other talks between actors in Sudan’s war, and hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have crossed into Egypt to flee the violence. Egypt was already home to millions of Sudanese before the war broke out.