The ceasefire in Sudan was extended on Sunday and will last three days from midnight, according to a statement issued by a spokesman for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“In response to international, regional and local calls, we are announcing a 72-hour extension of the humanitarian truce, starting midnight tonight, to open humanitarian corridors and facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, to allow them to respond to their needs and reach safe areas,” says later in the document.
The opposing parties have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
Recall that fighting between the Sudanese army and formations of the “Rapid Support Force” (RSF) continues for the third week, despite warnings that the conflict could lead to a civil war.
Hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured. The parties are fighting for Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, despite several truces reached with the participation of mediators, including the United States. The last expired Sunday at midnight and was later extended.
The Sudanese army said on Saturday it was deploying reserve police forces first in southern Khartoum and then, gradually, in other parts of the capital.
Sudanese police said the force was deployed to protect markets and property from looters. The RSF reacted by warning that the police should not get involved in the fighting.
The Reserve Force is a large and well-armed Sudanese police force with combat experience in the conflicts in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains of southern Sudan. In March 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on them, accusing them of using excessive force against protesters opposing the 2021 military coup.
Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said he would never sit down at the negotiating table with RSF chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who said he would not participate in the negotiations only after the army has stopped fighting.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (recall that the leadership of Saudi Arabia plays the role of intermediary in the ceasefire negotiations, met with Burhan’s envoy Daffallah al-Haj Ali in Riyadh and called for an end to the military escalation, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
Volker Perthes, the UN special representative for Sudan, told Reuters on Saturday he believed the parties had been more willing to negotiate lately than before and were accepting “some form of negotiation”, although no deadline has been set.
Meanwhile, with only 16% of medical facilities in Khartoum functioning normally, according to the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has delivered 8 tonnes of medical aid to Sudan.
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