CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia and the United States said Friday that warring parties in Sudan’s conflict are better adhering to a new week-long ceasefire after days of sporadic fighting.
The truce, brokered by Riyadh and Washington, came into effect on Monday, but fighting continued in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and in the western region of Darfur. Particularly intense clashes broke out on Wednesday, the two mediators said in a joint statement.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in mid-April after months of escalating tensions between the army, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo . The conflict has killed at least 863 civilians, including at least 190 children, according to the latest figures from the Sudanese Doctors’ Union.
The latest week-long ceasefire is the seventh attempt at a truce after others were breached.
A new cross-party committee to monitor potential violations observed on Wednesday “use of artillery and military aircraft and drones, credible reports of airstrikes, sustained fighting” in Khartoum and Darfur.
In the calm announced Thursday, humanitarian missions were able to deliver “urgently needed medical supplies to several locations in Sudan”, the joint statement said. Efforts are also underway to restore telecommunications services in Khartoum and other parts of the country, he added. .
On Friday, residents of Khartoum reported only sporadic gunfire.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned both sides of possible sanctions if the latest ceasefire is broken.
The United Nations says more than a million Sudanese have been internally displaced, while some 300,000 have fled to neighboring countries. The conflict has pushed the East African country to the brink of collapse, with urban areas of Khartoum and its adjacent city of Omdurman disintegrating into battlefields.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday evening that the World Food Program had provided more than half a million people in nine states in Sudan with food and nutrition support since distributions restarted there. about three weeks old.
Riyadh and Washington called on the Sudanese military and the RSF to continue to respect the ceasefire.