Sudan factions agree to extend ceasefire deal amid clashes
DUBAI - Sudan's warring military factions agreed on Monday to a five-day extension of a ceasefire agreement, after renewed heavy clashes and air strikes in parts of the capital threw fresh doubts on the effectiveness of the truce.
Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered a week-long ceasefire deal and have been monitoring it remotely, announced shortly before it was due to expire on Monday evening that the parties had agreed to extend it.
Although the ceasefire had been imperfectly observed, it had allowed the delivery of aid to an estimated two million people, the two countries said in a joint statement.
“The extension will provide time for further humanitarian assistance, restoration of essential services, and discussion of a potential longer-term extension,” the statement said.
Sources with knowledge of the new deal said discussions on amendments to make the truce more effective were continuing.
Hours earlier, residents reported battles in all three of the adjoining cities that make up Sudan’s greater capital around the confluence of the Nile - Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri. The intensity of the fighting was greater than over the past three days, they said.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a power struggle that erupted into conflict on April 15, killing hundreds and driving nearly 1.4 million people from their homes.
In Somalia, fighters from the al Shabaab insurgent group attacked a military base on the outskirts of a town in the centre of the country, leading to at least 17 deaths, a resident said.
The attack on Masagawa, about 300 km north of Mogadishu, came days after al Shabaab attacked a base housing Ugandan forces from an African Union peacekeeping mission in Bulamarer, 130 km southwest of the capital.
Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has been fighting since 2006 to topple Somalia's central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.