Warring factions in Sudan sign ceasefire

Agreement to halt the hostilities for a week follows talks between Blinken and army chief

Sudan’s warring factions signed an agreement late on Saturday for a seven-day ceasefire, sources from the two sides said, as fighting that has plunged the country into chaos and displaced more than a million people entered its sixth week.

The fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a collapse in law. Stocks of food, cash and essentials are rapidly dwindling, and mass looting has hit banks, embassies, factories and aid warehouses.

The new agreement calls for a seven-day ceasefire to begin 48 hours after signing. Numerous previous ceasefire agreements were violated. Talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah had until Saturday only resulted in a declaration of principles on May 12 but no change on the ground.

Aid groups have said they are unable to provide sufficient help in Khartoum, the capital, in the absence of safe passage and security guarantees for staff.

Earlier on Saturday, the US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan about the Jeddah talks.

“In this step-by-step process, the Secretary urged flexibility and leadership,” spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Air strikes were reported on Saturday by witnesses in southern Omdurman and northern Bahri, the two cities that lie across the Nile from Khartoum, forming Sudan’s “triple capital”.

“We faced heavy artillery fire early this morning, the whole house was shaking,” Sanaa Hassan, a 33-year-old living in the al-Salha neighbourhood of Omdurman, said by phone.

“It was terrifying, everyone was lying under their beds. What’s happening is a nightmare.”

The RSF is embedded in residential districts, drawing almost continual air strikes by the regular armed forces. Witnesses in Khartoum said the situation was relatively calm, although sporadic gunshots could be heard.

The conflict, which began on April 15, has displaced almost 1.1 million people internally and into neighbouring countries. Some 705 people have been killed and at least 5,287 injured, according to the World Health Organization.

In recent days ground fighting flared again in the Darfur region, in the cities of Nyala and Zalenjei. Both sides blamed each other on Friday for sparking the fighting in Nyala, one of the country’s largest cities, which had for weeks been relatively calm because of a locally brokered truce.

The war broke out after disputes over plans for the RSF to be integrated into the army and over the chain of command under an internationally backed deal to shift Sudan towards democracy.