Delegates from Sudan started talks in Switzerland on the 16-month civil war on Wednesday, with the US playing a key role in the summit. 

Washington says it hopes to secure a truce which would allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need. However, achieving this goal is likely be made harder due to the absence of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which rejected the US invitation.

A power struggle between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been raging in the African country since April 2023, causing massive displacement and hunger.

The talks are held at an undisclosed location and could last up to 10 days. 

US: Time for 'guns to be silenced!'

The summit is co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.

"Our focus is to move forward to achieve a cessation of hostilities, enhance humanitarian access and establish enforcement mechanisms that deliver concrete results," US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said earlier this week.

Ahead of the start of the talks, Perriello also said it was "high time for the guns to be silenced!"

"The RSF delegation has arrived in Switzerland. Our US delegation, and the collective international partners, technical experts, and Sudanese civil society, are still waiting on the SAF. The world is watching," he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Why is the SAF not attending?

 The SAF has expressed dissatisfaction with the format chosen by the US.

The army objects to the presence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is there as part of a steering group alongside the African Union, Egypt and the United Nations. The military leaders have repeatedly accusing the UAE of backing the RSF.

Sudanese Media Minister Graham Abdelkader said ahead of the talks that the government was rejecting "any new observers or participants" after Washington "insisted on the participation of the United Arab Emirates as an observer."

One in three children acutely malnourished

One in five people in Sudan has been forced to flee their homes by the prolonged fighting, while tens of thousands have died. More than half the population, or 25 million people across the country, are facing acute hunger.

According to the UN, both parties to the conflict are obstructing access for aid convoys. 

The UN estimates that at least 100 people die of hunger every day in Sudan, with at least 30% of children acutely malnourished.

The fighting has displaced more than 10 million people in the country and others have fled across the borders.

The UN describes the situation as the world's largest refugee crisis.

The devastation wreaked by the war has now been compounded by heavy rains and flooding that have destroyed houses and roads, forcing additional tens of thousands to flee.

tj/dj (dpa, AFP)