Sudan’s warring parties have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire beginning on Monday, Saudi Arabia and the US announced late on Saturday, the first truce to be signed by both parties in a conflict that has raged for over a month, leaving millions of people across the northeast African nation in a dire humanitarian crisis.
The truce was announced more than two weeks after representatives of the rival factions — the Sudanese Army controlled by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan — began talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
On Saturday, the sides promised to stop their forces from occupying new areas; to refrain from detaining or threatening civilians; and not to impede aid groups and workers from providing lifesaving assistance. The warring groups also agreed not to loot civilian properties or humanitarian supplies, nor seize critical infrastructure such as electricity, fuel and water installations.
Before the announcement, the two sides had signed a pact only to protect civilians but not to suspend fighting altogether, leaving their soldiers clashing across Sudan. Previous cease-fire announcements, including one brokered by the US and another by South Sudan, have faltered, leading to a mounting death toll and a vast displacement ofpeople.
To ensure that the latest ceasefire holds, a monitoring committee consisting of representatives from Saudi Arabia, the US and the warringfactions will be established.The committee will liaise with the warring sides and with aid agencies to make sure that the ceasefire terms are being respected and to investigate any violations.
The agreement late on Saturday came after US secretary of state Antony J. Blinken spoke with General al-Burhan about efforts to stop the fighting and restore essentialservices. Blinken urged both sides to uphold the truce to deliver humanitarian aid for the millions of Sudanese suffering after more than five weeks of fighting between the generals’ forces.
New York Times News Service
