‘Military intervention is not the solution,’ Ruto says as he meets US envoy to war-torn Sudan

President William Ruto on Monday said Kenya remains concerned about the war in Sudan, where the regular military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have fought for over a year now, killing tens of thousands of people.

The military under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by al-Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been up in arms since April 15, 2023, in a civil war that has also led to the displacement of nearly nine million people, according to the United Nations.

Ruto hosted the United States Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello at State House, Nairobi, where he reiterated Kenya’s position that military intervention is not the solution to the crisis.

“The two warring parties must engage in dialogue for sustainable peace and security in the country,” said Ruto, per a post on his X account late in the evening.

Both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary forces have been accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.

Rights groups and the United States have also accused the paramilitaries of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Last week, the U.N. International Organization for Migration said the number of internally displaced persons could exceed 10 million in the coming days as more people flee their homes for other parts of Sudan, adding to 2.8 million already displaced from previous conflicts in the country of 48 million.