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WASHINGTON —The United States welcomed Thursday's announcement by Sudan's sovereign council to allow the use of the Adre border crossing with Chad for three months, while continuing efforts to bring both sides of Sudan's warring military factions to the negotiating table.
The opening of the Adre border crossing is a long-awaited move by aid organizations aiming to deliver humanitarian assistance to famine-threatened areas of the Darfur region. The war-torn country faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
We "welcome the news as it relates to this border crossing with Chad," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA during a briefing on Thursday. "We are continuing to call on the SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces] and RSF [Rapid Support Forces] to facilitate unrestricted humanitarian access through any and all available channels."
The United States has invited leaders from both warring factions to Geneva, Switzerland, for talks aimed at negotiating a potential cease-fire to end the 16-month civil war.
The SAF had already rejected the talks several days earlier, while the RSF delegation, though in Switzerland, was absent from Wednesday's open session.
"We're still very focused on getting both sides in Sudan back to the table and to come to meaningful agreements about laying their arms down and doing the right thing for the people of Sudan," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
"You certainly need both military actors to be part of" the conversation on a cessation of violence, Patel told reporters on Thursday.
Diplomats from the African Union, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations were at the U.S.-mediated talks, which opened on Wednesday.
"Day 2 of our diplomatic talks on Sudan is under way. We continue our relentless work with international partners to save lives and ensure we achieve tangible results that build upon the Jeddah Process and implement the Jeddah Declaration," U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello wrote on X.
Day two of our diplomatic talks on Sudan is underway. We continue our relentless work with international partners to save lives and ensure we achieve tangible results that build upon the Jeddah Process and implement the Jeddah Declaration.
The Jeddah Declaration, reached in May 2023, calls for full aid access by land and air to all populations regardless of who controls the area.
More than a year of fighting between SAF and RSF troops has displaced nearly 10 million people across the greater Horn of Africa country and left 26 million facing crisis-level hunger.
"The medical system in Sudan is at a breaking point. Hospitals designed to serve tens of thousands are overwhelmed with over half a million displaced people, while the international community's pledged aid remains largely undelivered," Adil Al-Mahi, humanitarian organization MedGlobal's country director in Sudan, told VOA on Thursday.
He added that the last operational hospital in El Fasher may be forced to close due to intense shelling. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is the battleground for intense conflict between the SAF and RSF.
"The Saudi Hospital, the last public hospital in North Darfur, is barely functioning after continued bombardments. With each attack, it becomes increasingly clear that there is no regard for the protection of health facilities or the civilians within them. The international community must urgently intervene to protect these vital lifelines before it's too late," Al-Mahi said.