00:00Let's turn to Sudan, where the army has rebuffed a U.S. ceasefire proposal and says it will continue fighting the rebel group, the Rapid Support Forces.
00:08The paramilitary group has captured much of the western half of the country, and most recently, the major city Al-Fashir in North Darfur last month.
00:16Since then, reports of widespread atrocities have emerged, prompting world leaders to call for renewed talks to halt the war.
00:24For more, our chief AFCA correspondent Jennifer Zabazaja joins us from Johannesburg.
00:28Jen, what do we know about the situation in the nation right now?
00:33Sure, Jumana, it's important to remember that this more than two-year war is, as what we've been hearing from a number of leaders, is apparently intensifying, according to multiple reports.
00:43So you were just indicating there what's really the latest escalation, and that is what we believe to be the Rapid Support Forces reportedly taking over the city of Al-Fashir,
00:55which had been the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the west of the country.
01:01And what we've been hearing from the United Nations and also the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders is reportedly more than 30,000 people have fled the famine-stricken capital of North Darfur state.
01:13We've also been hearing reports about hundreds of people needing emergency treatment.
01:19And the UN's Human Rights Office also citing, quote, multiple distressing videos, as they put it, from Al-Fashir,
01:26showing dozens of unarmed men being shot or reportedly lying dead, surrounded by RSF fighters who reportedly accused them of being army soldiers.
01:36Now, the concern really is that potentially we do see this crisis intensifying in ways that many people did not expect,
01:46but also, as some of our Bloomberg reporting is suggesting, potentially even more significant of a situation than what we've seen in also Ukraine and in Gaza.
01:57We should note, though, that in this two-year war, an estimated 150,000 people have already been killed.
02:04Famine is also spreading.
02:06And a report this week said that just about 45 percent of the population, upwards of 21 million, are struggling to secure food.
02:14And you were just mentioning there what we have heard from the United Nations.
02:17Antonio Guterres, the secretary general, actually speaking from Doha earlier this week and saying that the conflict is spiraling out of control.
02:25And really, the concern here is that the country is potentially moving towards a Libya-style split within the nation.
02:36Jen, what efforts have there been to try to resolve the conflict?
02:42Sure.
02:42Jumana, you mentioned this briefly in the intro, but many of the international efforts that we've actually seen over the past few months have not been able to yield any direct result.
02:53If we take a look at what we've just seen over the past few weeks, we have seen the U.S., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, the so-called Quad, at least trying to make some attempts to resolve the conflict, but not being able to at this point in time.
03:08Right now, we heard earlier this week from Caroline Levitt, who is the press secretary for the White House, who said that the United States is actively engaged in efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
03:19Also adding that Washington is speaking with the rest of these nations about a peace process, but also about an immediate humanitarian situation, the concerns there, and long-term political challenges.
03:32Last month, we did see Mossad Boulos, who is the U.S. advisor, meeting with the Sudanese army's chief, al-Burhan, and talking about ways in which they could potentially find a resolution to the conflict, potentially floating sanctions, at least being lifted, some commercial deals, but nothing, at least at this point in time.
03:54And just lately, we heard from Sudan's army, who expressed gratitude for some of the efforts that have been made to try and propose a peaceful resolution, but at this point in time, they're saying instead they plan to rally public support in the nation to help them continue to fight the paramilitary forces.
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