Khartoum - The death toll from fierce fighting between Sudan's regular army and paramilitaries has risen to at least 97, with scores of other people wounded, the doctors' union said early Monday. "The death toll among civilians in clashes since it began on Saturday ... has reached 97," it said in a statement, noting that the figure does not include all casualties as many could not reach hospitals due to difficulties in movement.
Britain and the United States called Monday for an "immediate cessation" of violence in Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed nearly 100 people.
"There is a shared deep concern about the fighting... the threat that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement alongside his British counterpart James Cleverly.
He said the fighting had been discussed with allies in the Middle East and Africa.
There is "a very strong shared view about the need for generals... to ensure the protection of civilians and non-combatants as well as people from third countries." There was an agreement "on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks", he added on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in the Japanese town of Karuizawa.
"The immediate future lies in the hands of the generals engaged in this fight," Cleverly added. "We call upon them to put peace first, end the fighting, and get back to negotiations. That's what the people of Sudan want, that's what the people of Sudan deserve."
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