Diplomatic pressure around Sudan’s grinding war returned to the spotlight in Cairo on Wednesday, where Egypt and the United Nations urged the country’s rival forces to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce as fighting between the army and a powerful paramilitary force edges toward its third year.
At talks hosted by Egypt, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo views the survival of Sudan’s state institutions and territorial unity as non-negotiable. He warned that Egypt would reject any scenario that fragments the country or erodes its sovereignty, calling such outcomes “red lines.”
Speaking alongside Ramtane Lamamra, the U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan, Abdelatty said Egypt would not remain passive if Sudan’s unity were threatened and would take whatever steps are required to safeguard it.
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“There is absolutely no room for recognizing parallel entities or any militias. Under no circumstances can we equate Sudanese state institutions, including the Sudanese army, with any other militias,” Abdelatty said on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance and Coordinate Peace Efforts. Lamamra said the gathering emphasized that diplomacy is still capable of opening a path toward peace.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, when tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces erupted into open conflict. The fighting has been marked by widespread abuses and has driven the country into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies.
Despite the collapse of multiple peace initiatives, Abdelatty said regional actors now share an understanding on the need for an immediate humanitarian truce. He said proposals include limited withdrawals by the warring parties and the creation of safe corridors to allow aid to reach civilians.
The Cairo meeting also included Massad Boulos, the senior U.S. adviser for Arab and African Affairs, AP reported. He said that more than 1.3 metric tons of humanitarian supplies reached el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Wednesday through American-led mediation. The delivery was the first since the city was encircled by the RSF 18 months ago and later fell to the group in October.
“As we press the warring parties for a nationwide humanitarian truce, we will continue to support mechanisms to facilitate the unhindered delivery of assistance to areas suffering from famine, malnutrition, and conflict-driven displacement,” Boulos wrote on X.
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi separately discussed Sudan with Boulos, stressing the importance of closer coordination between Cairo and Washington to stabilize the country. According to the Egyptian presidency, el-Sissi also expressed appreciation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war.
The United States and key mediators Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, collectively known as the Quad, have previously proposed a humanitarian truce that both sides reportedly accepted. Fighting, however, has continued on multiple fronts.
“The President emphasized that Egypt will not allow such actions, given the deep connection between the national security of both brotherly countries,” the Egyptian president’s office said.
The U.S. has accused the RSF of committing genocide in Darfur, while rights organizations say the group carried out war crimes during the siege and capture of el-Fasher and in assaults on other towns across the region. The Sudanese military has also faced allegations of serious human rights abuses.
On the ground, violence has persisted even as diplomacy resumes. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said at least 19 civilians were killed Monday during ground operations in Jarjira, in North Darfur. A Darfur rebel group aligned with the military said it conducted a joint operation with the army that drove RSF fighters out of the area.
Elsewhere, at least 10 people were killed and nine wounded in a drone strike that hit Sinja, the capital of Sennar province, on the same day, according to OCHA and the Sudan Doctors Network. The network said the attack was carried out by the RSF and struck several parts of the city.
The group described the targeting of civilians as a “full-fledged war crime,” saying it holds the RSF fully responsible and calling for an end to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
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The latest fighting has displaced more than 8,000 people from villages in North Darfur, with families fleeing to safer parts of the province or crossing into neighboring Chad, according to the International Organization for Migration.
