Sudan’s warring sides agree to three- day ceasefire

GOOBJOOG NEWS | KHARTOUM: The two opposing forces in the Sudan conflict have agreed to a three-day ceasefire the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

In a statement released Monday, Blinken revealed that the agreement was arrived at following “intense negotiations”.

“Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on 24 April, to last for 72 hours.”

Previous such attempts to convince the two sides to cease hostilities have failed as fighting in various parts of the country escalated raising global concern that it may extend into a full blown civil conflict.

The fighting has so far killed at least 400 people and wounded more over 3700 according to data by the United Nations.

Ealier on Monday, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, had warned that the fighting could “engulf the whole region and beyond”.

“We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss,” Guterres said.

In his statement, Blinked said the three-day ceasefire would hopefully pave way for talks that will end the conflict and restore peace in the country.

“To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan,” the secretary of state said.

Sudanese civilians trapped by the sudden outbreak of fighting are desperately short of food, water and medicine, aid agencies said.

“Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets,” said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors’ union, on Monday according to the French Press Agency (AFP), saying that heavy shelling of south Khartoum had caused scores of new casualties.

Several countries have already evacuated their diplomats and civilians from the country

The violence in Sudan has pitted army units loyal to its military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the Rapid Support Forces, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

Battles have been raging in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman over the past nine days.