Addis Ababa, 18 December 2023: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expresses growing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Sudan, in particular the reports of the renewed attacks on the Abu Shok camp for internally displaced persons in El Fasher, as well as the spread of the fighting to Wad Medani in Gezira state.

The Chairperson notes with dismay, the reopening of traumatic wounds for many Darfurians, who for over the past twenty years, have lived in Abu Shok as a place of refuge, but fighting resumed there in recent days.

Similarly, attacks on Wad Medani have opened up a new front in the Sudanese war that is now in its 9th month. Wad Medani has in recent months welcomed millions of Sudanese civilians who have fled the fight- ing in Khartoum, and many of them are being forced to flee for a second time since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023.

The Chairperson of the Commission renews the call on the belligerents, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, to immediately cease hostilities and participate meaningfully in negotiations to- wards building and sustaining peace in Sudan.

In this regard, the Chairperson reaffirms the readiness of the AU to continue to work with key national stakeholders, regional and global actors including IGAD, League of Arab States and the United Nations, towards the swift resolution of the conflict in Sudan.