East African leaders to convene for urgent meeting on Sudan

By Tufan Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) — The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a bloc of East African nations, has resolved to hold an emergency meeting to discuss measures to settle the conflict in Sudan between the army and paramilitary forces.

IGAD spokesperson Nuur Mohamud Sheekh told Anadolu that the leaders of the member states would meet on Sunday and discuss the developments in the country as the military continues to clash with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a second day.

After the hostilities began on Saturday, the leaders of neighboring countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia were urged to put an end to the violence.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, president of the African Union Commission, urged the sides in Sudan to immediately stop harming the country and the international community to make a work towards an end to hostilities.

Armed clashes erupted Saturday morning in Sudan's capital Khartoum and its surrounding cities between the army and a paramilitary RSF.

A dispute over military security reform, which calls for the RSF fully joining the army, had escalated into armed clashes between the two sides.