Sudan’s army and RSF agree to extend truce by five days
▶ Army and RSF agree to extend ceasefire after heavy clashes and bombing raids rock capital Khartoum
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed last night on a five-day extension to a ceasefire brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US.
Riyadh and Washington welcomed the deal, which came on the final day of the previous week-long truce.
“The extension will provide time for further humanitarian assistance, restoration of essential services and discussion of a potential longer-term extension,” the US Bureau of African Affairs said last night.
As the previous ceasefire drew to an end, fighting raged in the cities including capital Khartoum.
The US and Saudi Arabia condemned the army and RSF for “posturing for further escalation”.
Previous attempts to pause fighting and ensure talks had little success.
The UN has said no humanitarian corridors for aid and refugees are currently open in the country.
The UN’s World Food Programme said yesterday that Sudan was one of several countries on famine alert, after drought and disruption caused by the fighting curtailed food supplies.
More than half of Sudan’s population of 25 million are in need of food aid, the UN has said.
Meanwhile, the spectre of a previous conflict – ethnic violence in the western region of Darfur that displaced about three million people in 2003 – has returned.
Toby Hayward of the UN’s refugee agency said yesterday that violence in Darfur “blatantly disregards ceasefire commitments”.
Darfur’s authorities on Sunday called people to take up arms in the region.
“Intermittent fighting between Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher, North Darfur, over the last few days” has led to the deaths of civilians, looting and the displacement of tens of thousands, Mr Hayward said.
The UN said the country’s problems may worsen next month, because the rainy season could make some roads impassable and cause the spread of disease.
In East Darfur, more than 30 infants have died in one hospital since fighting began, due to a lack of services, the World Health Organisation said.
More than a million people could flee Sudan by October to escape fighting in the country, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.
It came as heavy clashes and explosions rocked southern Khartoum, while military jets bombed positions controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on a key Nile bridge north of the capital.
At least 350,000 have already fled the country and a million have been internally displaced.
The UNHCR foresees about 800,000 Sudanese and 200,000 people of other nationalities leaving Sudan over six months, the agency’s chief Filippo Grandi said in Cairo, after a visit to the border with Sudan.
“This projection, that in the next few months, we’ll reach these high figures, may even be conservative,” he said.
“At the beginning, I didn’t believe it would be, but now I’m beginning to be worried.”
This latest fighting came hours before a week-long ceasefire mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia was set to expire.
The US Bureau of African Affairs announced last night that the Sudanese army and RSF had agreed to extend the truce by five days.
Washington and Saudi Arabia had earlier called on the warring sides to extend the ceasefire.
The RSF, led by Gen Mohammed Dagalo, has been fighting against the army since April 15, with violence reported in cities across the country.
The ceasefire extension was welcomed by the US, which had earlier issued a joint statement with Saudi Arabia criticising the warring sides for “posturing for further escalation”.
Yesterday’s fighting in southern Khartoum was mostly in the districts of Jabrah and Azhary, residents said. About 12km north of Khartoum in Bahri, one of Khartoum’s two adjoining cities, military aircraft bombed RSF positions on Halfaya Bridge.
While the initial week-long ceasefire brought some respite from the heavy fighting of the previous six weeks, it failed to allow humanitarian aid to reach millions trapped in the capital.
Residents have faced dwindling food supplies, power and water cuts and the near complete absence of health care.
Yesterday, two UN agencies – the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation – said Sudan was among the areas most at risk for food insecurity.
The country requires urgent action from the international community, the agencies said. The fighting in Sudan has been primarily focused in Khartoum but has also spread to the western Darfur region.
The RSF’s forerunner, a Darfur-based militia known as Janjaweed, fought on the government’s side during the civil war in the region in the 2000s.
Janjaweed was accused of committing widespread abuses against civilians.
The army on Friday called up reservists and able-bodied retired soldiers to join the conflict against the RSF. The Defence Ministry said men who wished to defend themselves, their families and their property should head to the nearest army base to receive weapons.
The governor of Darfur, who has declared his support for the army, has called on residents to arm themselves to fend off attackers and looters.
The Sudanese conflict has so far forced an estimated 1.4 million people to flee their homes.
About 350,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, including Egypt and Chad, the UN said.
The UN says Sudan is among the areas most at risk for food insecurity and requires urgent international action