Over 700,000 displaced internally in Sudan since mid-April — UN

GENEVA — Heavy fighting in Sudan has led to 700,000 people being internally displaced since the middle of April, the United Nations said on Tuesday, adding the figure had doubled in a week.

"There are now more than 700,000 internally displaced by the fighting," Paul Dillon, spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration said, adding: "Last Tuesday, the figure stood at 340,000."

Sudan was thrown into deadly chaos when fighting broke out on April 15 between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Battles have since killed hundreds, wounded thousands and uprooted hundreds of thousands, leading to fears of security fallout beyond Sudan's borders.

The warring generals have sent representatives to Saudi Arabia for talks on establishing a humanitarian truce in an effort also backed by the United States.

Washington and Riyadh have labelled these "pre-negotiation talks".

By Monday, the discussions had yielded "no major progress", a Saudi diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"A permanent ceasefire isn't on the table... Every side believes it is capable of winning the battle," the diplomat added.

The fighting has sparked a mass exodus of foreigners and of Sudanese, in land, air and sea evacuations.

The battles in the capital and in other parts of the country have killed more than 750 people and injured over 5,000, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

In Sudan's long-troubled western region, almost 200 people have been killed in West Darfur state over the past two weeks, the United Nations said.

It has warned of a widening humanitarian crisis, even as facilities of the UN and other aid groups have faced "large-scale looting", including at the World Food Programme in Khartoum over the weekend, a UN spokesperson said on Monday.

Egypt's foreign ministry warned of "the great humanitarian tragedy" of the conflict, "directly affecting Sudan's neighbouring countries", in a statement on Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry's visit on Monday to Chad and then South Sudan.

The UN top humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths, has travelled to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, and a UN official said Griffiths had “asked to join the negotiations” between the warring sides, but his request had not been approved so far.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for “a timetable for expanded negotiations to reach a permanent cessation of hostilities”, its foreign ministry said.

The Jeddah talks, which are set to continue “in the following days”, aim to reach “an effective short-term halt” to the fighting, facilitating aid delivery and restoring basic services, it added.

US Ambassador John Godfrey, while not commenting directly on the Jeddah talks, said in a statement: “Our immediate priority is to reach a durable ceasefire” and enable humanitarian assistance.

Multiple truce deals have been declared and quickly violated during the current fighting, in a country with a history of instability.