US and Egyptian diplomacy seeks Sudan ceasefire as five million displaced return home

US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos said on Monday that he had held "productive talks" with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during discussions at the United Nations General Assembly. The focus of these talks was establishing an urgent path toward lasting peace in Sudan. Boulos emphasised that Sudanese civilians urgently needed "a humanitarian truce that could pave the way for an inclusive civilian dialogue and a unified, peaceful Sudan." Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty described the meeting as a "constructive trilateral discussion" aimed at reducing tensions and maintaining Sudan's territorial unity.

The diplomatic efforts coincided with reports from the UN's International Organization for Migration, which documented that more than five million people displaced by the war have chosen to return to Sudan. This figure underscores both the enormous scale of the displacement crisis and the determination of civilians to rebuild their lives, despite the continuing conflict.

On the ground, however, the conflict remained intense. The Rapid Support Forces conducted an attack on a gold mining market in North Kordofan, resulting in five civilian deaths, including a goldsmith worker. In response, Sudan's military launched heavy nighttime airstrikes against Rapid Support Forces positions in Nyala, the principal city of South Darfur. The fighting between the army and the paramilitary group persisted across multiple fronts, now more than three years into the war.