Khartoum (AFP)-Residents of the Sudanese capital were awakened by renewed clashes , just hours after rival generals agreed to a week-long ceasefire amid ongoing talks in Saudi Arabia.
The ceasefire is expected to enter into force by the 9th at the latest after several successive ceasefires that have been systematically violated.
In joint efforts for ceasefire, the United States and Saudi Arabia have issued a joint statement for maintinaing peace in Sudan.
A statement after the meeting in Jeddah said the ceasefire “will remain in force for seven days and may be extended by mutual consent.”
Several ceasefires have been broken since fighting broke out five weeks ago, the Saudi foreign ministry confirmed in a statement issued by the Saudi state news agency.
“Unlike previous ceasefires, the agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the parties and backed by a ceasefire monitoring mechanism internationally supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia,” he said. But after weeks of fleeing brutal street fighting amid severe shortages of food and vital resource supplies, Khartoum residents were skeptical that things would change this time.
“They have announced a ceasefire that they have not complied with so far,” said Hussein Mohammed, who remains in northern Khartoum and has taken refuge with his sick mother despite the neighborhood being abandoned.
“We hope that this time the mediators will be able to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire,” she told AFP, adding that her mother has had regular doctor visits since the conflict erupted on April 15. He added that it has become unprotected.
The battle pits the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the militia’s rapid-relief force, led by ex-Burhan lieutenant Mohamed Hamdan Dagro.
Weeks of heavy fighting have left nearly 1,000 people dead, more than a million displaced, and millions with only sporadic access to water, electricity, and medicine. Besides the capital, the worst fighting has also occurred in the war-torn western Darfur region.
The region is now in conflict that erupted in 2003 when former dictator Omar al-Bashir liberated the feared Janjaweed militia (which formed the basis of the RSF) to quell minority rebellions.
