The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FAR) announced a 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, after six days of fighting, for humanitarian reasons starting at six in the morning local time this Friday, coinciding with the Muslim holiday of Eid. al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. However, residents of Khartoum and its sister city Bahri continue to report gunshots.
“The truce coincides with the blessed Eid al Fitr (…) to open humanitarian corridors that allow citizens to evacuate and give them the opportunity to reunite with their families,” the RAF said in a statement. However, the Sudanese army did not immediately comment on it, and its chief, General Abdelfattah al Burhan, did not mention the truce in a recorded speech either, his first public appearance after the start of the fighting.
Burhan stated that he is confident of overcoming this conflict and ensuring a transition to civilian rule. “We are confident that we will overcome this ordeal with wisdom and strength, in a way that preserves the security and unity of the country and allows us to ensure a transition to civilian rule,” he said in his brief address.
He also pointed out in the barely a minute clip, in which he appears visibly exhausted, that Sudan has been “hit by a very serious injury, as they fell dead and wounded, families were displaced, and facilities and homes were destroyed.” .
Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, was rocked by shelling and shelling ahead of the ceasefire announcement, with witnesses reporting gunfire as the truce and Eid al Fitr morning prayers were scheduled to begin. Several witnesses also reported the deployment of Sudanese soldiers in some neighborhoods, which seems to indicate that the army is preparing for more clashes. The same was the case in the city of Bahri, on the other side of the Nile River, where fighting between the RAF and the military was heard.
Thursday was marked by something that is becoming commonplace: the breach of a 24-hour truce that was agreed the day before between the opposing parties and that was announced when a truce agreed on Wednesday expired, also violated from the minute one. For this reason, there are few expectations for the fulfillment of a new ceasefire today.
And that the requests for a truce for this Friday come from the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, yesterday called for a three-day truce. “The cessation of hostilities must be followed by a serious dialogue, which allows for a successful transition, starting with the appointment of a civilian government,” Guterres told reporters after a virtual meeting with the African Union (AU) and other regional organizations. . The Arab League already asked for the same yesterday, when its secretary general, Ahmed Abulgueit, stated that “it is very sad that Eid al Fitr arrives and that our people in Sudan are terrified in their homes, fearing for their lives.”
The Sudanese Army expressed yesterday its “constant rejection to enter into negotiations” with the FAR, and indicated that agreeing to a truce is not synonymous with wanting to make peace.
The two consecutive days of truce on paper, which could be extended to three if this Friday, have not done the Sudanese any favours. Since Saturday, civilians have been surviving with severe electricity and drinking water cuts, without access to basic products and, less and less, to hospitals, which are being attacked with shelling and artillery fire.
For its part, the United States announced this Friday that it has deployed troops in the region in case it is necessary to evacuate its personnel from the country. The Pentagon said in a brief statement that, together with the United States Command for Africa, they are carrying out “prudent planning for various contingencies.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby wanted to make it clear that Washington has not yet made a firm decision on an eventual evacuation. “It really is about prepositioning military forces. In case it is decided to move towards some kind of military evacuation, we will have more to say about it at that time,” he told a press conference.
The clashes broke out on Saturday amid talks on a reform of the army and the integration of the FAR into it, part of the political process to return Sudan to the democratic path after the 2021 coup perpetrated jointly by Burhan and the leader of the paramilitary group, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”.
The latest death toll in Sudan stands at nearly 330 people killed and around 3,200 injured as a result of clashes between the rival military, according to the WHO.
