Sudan’s security council orders signatory groups to quit the capital

January 17, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s security and defence council on Monday directed the Juba Peace Agreement signatory groups to withdraw their fighters outside the capital and town.

Following the signing of the peace deal, several groups deployed troops in Khartoum with the agreement of the military component despite the criticism the move faced in the local press and social media.

In a meeting chaired by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the security body discussed the situation in Khartoum and the continued protest movement after the coup of October 25 in the capital and across the country.

The meeting renewed the government commitment to the unilateral cessation of hostilities with the holdout groups in Jebel Marra of Central Darfur and the Nuba Mountains and reiterated calls to strike a peace deal ending the armed conflicts in Sudan.

The Council also directed the signatory groups to assemble their fighters outside Khartoum and the main towns in the cantonment sites to enforce security arrangements, added the statement.

Recently, the Sovereign Council backed calls by the North Darfur governor for the armed groups to evacuate El-Fasher after repeated attacks by their fighters on the UNAMID site and WFP warehouses.

However, peace groups ignored his call and remained in the town.

The recalcitrant groups point to the need to implement the belated security arrangements, stressing that they would not quit the towns to leave their troops surviving in cantonment sites without food and shelter.

Some other groups, however, such as the SLM Transition Council gathered its fighters outside Darfur towns.

In the Blue Nile State, the SPLM-N of Malik Agar maintains its fighters in the assembly sites despite the slow pace of the implementation process of the security arrangement.

(ST)