<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan travelled Thursday to Doha for talks with Qatar's emir, Sudan's ruling sovereign council said, his third trip abroad during his nearly five-month war with paramilitaries.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Burhan and Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will "discuss bilateral relations, issues of common interest, and the situation in Sudan," a council statement said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since April 15, Sudan's regular army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Burhan's former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After spending months under seige inside the military headquarters in Khartoum, Burhan made his first foray outside last month and has visited regional allies in recent weeks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He has since been based in Port Sudan in the country's east, which has been spared the fighting and to which government officials and the United Nations have relocated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It also hosts Sudan's only functioning airport.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Late last month, he took his first trip abroad to Egypt, historically his closest ally, followed by a visit to South Sudan this week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both Cairo and Juba have sought to mobilise efforts to end the fighting, after attempts to mediate in the early months of the war repeatedly floundered.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Multiple truces brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia were systematically violated, before the two mediators adjourned talks in June.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far, the war has killed at least 5,000 people, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location &amp; Event Data Project.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has also forced 4.8 million people out of their homes -- one million of whom have crossed borders -- according to the UN, which expects those numbers to rise further. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>