South Sudan: Warring generals agree to weeklong truce
Two sides to also negotiate, but no date has been set
NAIROBI — The two generals fighting in Sudan agreed to a seven-day truce starting Thursday and will name representatives to peace talks, according to the Foreign Ministry of South Sudan, which has been working with other neighboring countries to negotiate an end to a conflict that has sent more than 100,000 refugees pouring across their borders in a few weeks.
There was no immediate public confirmation, however, that an agreement had been reached from either side in the conflict between the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lieutenant General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. And no date has been set yet for negotiations to begin, South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
The United Nations has also been pressing for peace talks, and a spokesman, Farhan Haq, was cautious about South Sudan’s statement Tuesday. Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general, said at a briefing: “We would certainly welcome any lasting meaningful truce. First, of course, we will have to see whether this is accepted by all the parties and whether it is implemented by the forces on the ground.”
The fighting has persisted despite previous cease-fires and threatens to undermine regional stability. More than 300,000 people have been internally displaced, in addition to the more than 100,000 who have fled, mostly into Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to figures released by UN agencies.
The UN refugee agency also warned that more than 800,000 people could try to escape Sudan by the end of this year to the seven nations bordering the northeastern African country — many of them already reeling from their own economic, political, and refugee crises.
More than 500 people have died and more than 4,000 have been injured in the latest conflict in Sudan, according to the World Health Organization.
Neighboring South Sudan was one of the first countries to offer to arbitrate between the warring sides, with President Salva Kiir offering to host along with his Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. South Sudan is part of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-nation regional bloc that includes Sudan.
The outbreak of violence in Sudan has dashed whatever hopes residents had of achieving a transition to civilian democratic rule, which was scuttled by a military coup in 2021.
On Tuesday morning, residents in parts of the capital, Khartoum, reported intense clashes and heavy shelling throughout the night before. Many residents are without electricity and worried about dwindling food and water. Given the deteriorating situation, the United Nations said it was preparing for a mass exodus from Sudan, a nation of more than 45 million people that was already facing dire humanitarian crises before the latest fighting.
More than 334,000 people were also internally displaced in 14 of Sudan’s 18 states, the International Organization for Migration said. Several aid agencies have already suspended operations in the country or have left their local staff members running slimmed-down outfits.