US, Riyadh call for truce extension in Sudan
Both nations want the ceasefire to continue so humanitarian aid can be delivered to people
The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a ceasefire due to expire today.
The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the US and the Saudis.
However, the ceasefire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.
In a statement yesterday, the US and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce, which expires at 9.45pm local time today.
“While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” it said.
The statement also urged the military government and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to continue negotiations.
The fighting broke out in midApril between the military and the RSF. Both military chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo led the 2021 coup that removed the Westernbacked government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The fighting turned Khartoum and the city of Omdurman into a battleground. The clashes spread elsewhere in the country, including the Darfur region.
The conflict has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and pushed the country to near collapse. It has forced more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, or to neighbouring nations.
Residents reported clashes yesterday in parts of Omdurman, where the army’s aircraft were seen flying over the city. Fighting was also reported in al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur.
The US-Saudi statement came two days after Burhan demanded, in a letter to the UN secretary general, that the UN envoy to his country be removed. The UN chief was “shocked” by the letter, a spokesman said.
The envoy, Volker Perthes, has been a key mediator in Sudan, first during the country’s attempts to transition to democracy and then during efforts to end the current fighting.
Perthes accused the warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations.