US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday that Sudan’s warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated, AFP reported.
“Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours,” Blinken said in a statement two hours before the truce was to go into effect.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” he added.
The Secretary of State also said that the United States was working with partners to set up a committee that would negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, where the conflict between rival generals descended into deadly violence 10 days ago.
Blinken met earlier Monday in Washington on the peace efforts with Kenya’s top diplomat and has held phone conversations with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
A previous attempt last week to reach a ceasefire did not succeed, as sporadic gunfire and air strikes echoed across Khartoum continued even after the ceasefire had gone into effect.
On Saturday, the US military completed the evacuation of the American embassy in Sudan, on the orders of President Joe Biden.
“This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It”s unconscionable and it must stop. We”re temporarily suspending operations at the US Embassy in Sudan, but our commitment to the Sudanese people and the future they want is unending,” the President said.
The battles in Sudan erupted in Khartoum on April 15, after disagreements emerged between Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF’s Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo over how Sudan should be run.
They both held top positions in Sudan’s current military government, formed after the 2019 coup that ousted long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.
They were to merge their forces, but the RSF resisted the change, mobilizing its troops which escalated into full-scale fighting last week.
