A prominent US diplomat travels to Ethiopia to discuss the war in Sudan with African leaders

July 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The US Deputy Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, will travel to Ethiopia this Monday to meet with African leaders to address the war in Sudan, unleashed on April 15 due to clashes between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ( RSF).

The US Department of State has detailed in a statement published on its website that Phee will be in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, between Monday and Tuesday to meet with “African leaders, including representatives of governments in the region and the Authority Intergovernmental Agency on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU)”.

“He will also meet with Sudanese civilians committed to ending the conflict and restoring democratic governance in Sudan,” he said, before insisting that “the message from the African and international partners of the parties to the conflict remains clear: there is no an acceptable military solution to this conflict”.

For this reason, Washington has once again asked the Army and the RSF to “immediately end the fighting and return to the barracks, respect their obligations under Humanitarian Law and allow unrestricted humanitarian access to respond to emergency needs.” of civilians”.

“We echo the call of countries in the region to avoid any external interference and military support that will only escalate and prolong the conflict. We stand with the Sudanese people as they work in broad-based groups to restart the stalled political transition to achieve freedom, peace and justice in Sudan”, he stressed.

The conflict that broke out on April 15 has so far left more than 1,100 dead, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health, but the real figures could be much higher considering the inter-communal violence unleashed in the Kordofan and Darfur regions.

In addition, more than 2.9 million people have been displaced, including nearly 700,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, according to data released last week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), amid reports of daily atrocities and sexual abuse of on a large scale against the women and girls of the country.