CAIRO >> Sudan’s military suspended its participation in talks with a paramilitary force it’s been battling for weeks for control of the northeastern African country, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

The development was a blow to the United States and Saudi Arabia, who have been mediating between the two sides. The conflict has plunged Sudan into chaos.

Brig. Nabil Abdalla, a spokesperson for the Sudanese armed forces, told The Associated Press that the move is a protest against the Rapid Support Forces’ “repeated violations” of the humanitarian cease-fire, including their continued occupation of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Khartoum.

Sudan descended into chaos after fighting erupted in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties. The toll could be much higher, the medical group had previously said.

Abdalla, the spokesperson, said the military wants to ensure that the terms of a U.S.-Saudi-brokered truce “be fully implemented” before discussing further steps. He did not elaborate.

On May 21, both sides signed a cease-fire agreement allowing for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services destroyed in the clashes. They also agreed to stop the looting of residential properties and humanitarian aid, as well as the taking over of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and power plants.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia or the United States. So far, there have been seven declared cease-fires, all of which have been violated to some extent.

Responding to the military’s move, the RSF said it “unconditionally backs the Saudi-U.S. initiative.”

Two other senior military officials said the army sent a letter to the Saudi and American mediators detailing what they called the RSF violations. They said the military delegation was still in the venue of the talks in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.

One of the officials said the decision was prompted by the mediators’ efforts to move to the next stage of negotiations without “fully implementing the terms” of the humanitarian cease-fire. That stage includes a long-term cease-fire and engaging in negotiations to settle the disputes between the two sides, he said.

Both senior officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

For only the fifth time since he took office in January 2017, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday asked to brief the Security Council behind closed doors on Sudan, a sign of his increasing concern about the fighting and the U.N.’s operations in the country.

Guterres’ briefing followed Burhan’s demand in a letter to the secretary-general last Friday that the U.N. special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, be removed, saying his approach in pre-war talks between the generals helped inflame the conflict and accusing him of “being partisan.” The U.N. chief was “shocked” by the letter.

In brief remarks to reporters after the closed meeting, Guterres said he reaffirmed to the council “my full confidence in Volker Perthes” and told the 15 council members it’s up to them to decide whether to continue the U.N. political mission in Sudan, which Perthes leads, or whether “it’s time to end it.”

The political mission, known as UNITAMS, was established by the council on June 3, 2020, to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule. An October 2021 military coup upended Sudan’s democratic transition after a popular uprising forced the military to remove autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.