Sudan rival parties agree to 24-hour ceasefire: Mediators
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The mediators call the new ceasefire a confidence-building move that would enable the restart of negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Heavy smoke bellows above buildings in the vicinity of Khartoum's airport amid clashes in the Sudanese capital on 15 April 2023. (AFP)
Sudan's warring parties have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire from Saturday, as per a joint statement by US and Saudi mediators who have brokered previous fragile truces.
"Representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 24-hour countrywide ceasefire beginning on June 10 at 6:00 am (0400 GMT)," said the statement released by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry on Friday.
#Statement | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America announce that representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 24-hour countrywide ceasefire beginning on June 10 at 6:00 a.m. Khartoum time. pic.twitter.com/WChGntroxH
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) June 9, 2023
“They also agreed to allow the unimpeded movement and delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country,” it added.
The mediators said they put forward the most recent truce in an effort to end a cycle of violence that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and more than 1 million displaced persons.
They called it a confidence-building move that would enable the restart of negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but they also issued a warning that any infractions would prompt them to think about postponing the process.
Earlier today, the Sudanese government announced United Nations envoy Volker Perthes "persona non grata" two weeks after the army chief accused him of stoking the country's ongoing clashes and sought to have him removed from his post.
A deepening humanitarian crisis
The ongoing clashes have so far killed more than 1,800 people, according to the latest figures from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Meanwhile, the chaos has left millions hunkering down in their homes to find shelters from the bullets and roaming looters amid power blackouts and shortages of water, food, medicines, and other staples.
Fighting between Sudan's rival generals has displaced over one million people within the country since it began on April 15, as per the International Organization for Migration.
Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, electricity is only available for a few hours a week and three-quarters of the hospitals in combat zones are not functioning.
Read next: Sudan: A borderless conflict
