"Uncertainty of negotiations may lead to escalation of violence in Darfur" - Peacekeeping Chief

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said while the impact of the post-11 April events in Sudan on the prevailing situation in Darfur “has been so far moderate, the uncertainty of the negotiations’ outcome may have repercussions well beyond Khartoum and lead to escalation of violence.”
Addressing the Security Council today (14 Jun), Lacroix said What started in December 2018, as social unrest triggered by socioeconomic grievances, led to the removal of President Al-Bashir on 11 April and the subsequent take over by a Transitional Military Council (TMC), who are currently negotiating with the umbrella opposition group of the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC) forces on the nature and the structure of the governance system.
He added that the 3 June attacks and killings of civilians, which this Council condemned, “exemplify the risks” in Darfur with the reported perpetration of violence “by actors such as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are closely linked to Darfur.”
Lacroix said the latest joint assessment of the UN Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) “concluded that overall the intercommunal violence has visibly declined” but warned that the “conflict drivers related to access to land and resources, environmental degradation and violation of human rights need to be further addressed.”