Sudan’s warring factions- the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)- agreed late Saturday (May 20) for a week-long ceasefire. In a statement, the United States and Saudi Arabia said that the ceasefire would take effect at 9.45 pm Khartoum time (1945 GMT) on Monday (May 22). The statement added that representatives from both army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo vowed not to seek any military advantage before the truce goes into effect.
The ceasefire “shall remain in effect for seven days and may be extended with the agreement of both parties,” the statement added.
Since the beginning of the fighting on April 15, numerous ceasefire violations have been violated. But Saturday’s agreement would be enforced by US-Saudi and international-supported monitoring mechanism.
The above statement also said the agreement (for the ceasefire) called for distributing humanitarian assistance, restoring essential services and withdrawing forces from hospitals and essential public facilities.
Ceasefire comes as airstrikes shook Khartoum
The fresh week-long ceasefire agreement came as Sudan’s capital city Khartoum reported fresh airstrikes and artillery shelling on Saturday, and armed men ransacked the Qatari embassy, according to a report by the news agency AFP.
Qatar’s embassy was the latest diplomatic mission to be attacked. Condemning the incident, Doha said “The embassy staff had previously been evacuated and… none of the diplomats or embassy staff were subjected to any harm,” and renewed calls for an immediate end to the fighting.
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Qatar did not specifically identify RSF as responsible (for the attack), but a statement from the pro-Burhan authorities put the blame squarely on the paramilitaries, AFP reported.
Over 700 people killed, and almost 1.1 million people displaced
The conflict in Sudan has killed 705 people and injured at least 5,287, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Almost 1.1 million people have been displaced internally and into neighbouring countries.
On Friday, the United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that he was allocating $22 million in emergency funds to help Sudanese fleeing the violence. These funds would help relief efforts in Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt and South Sudan where Sudanese have sought refuge, Griffiths added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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