Sudan’s factions agree to extend truce, but fighting goes on
- The US says ceasefire violations are worrying, even as the army and rival paramilitary forces agree to prolong the agreement by 72 hours
- Fighting has spread to the vast Darfur region, where conflict has simmered ever since civil war erupted two decades ago
Sudan’s two warring factions said on Thursday they would prolong a ceasefire agreement by 72 hours, but violence again rocked the capital Khartoum and the western region of Darfur as the US said ceasefire violations were worrying.
Hundreds have died and tens of thousands of people have fled for their lives in two weeks of conflict between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Together, they toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup but are now locked in a power struggle that has derailed an internationally backed transition to democracy and is threatening to destabilise a fragile region.
The army on Wednesday said it agreed to a new three-day ceasefire until the end of Sunday following one due to expire on Thursday night. On Thursday, the military reiterated it would extend the truce and said it would honour it unilaterally.
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Responding for the first time, the RSF said on Thursday it too approved another 72-hour truce starting Friday. It said the proposal was from two diplomatic groupings that include the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Norway.