Sudan’s 24-Hour Truce Begins Amid Dire Humanitarian Situation

Sudan’s capital of Khartoum was relatively quiet in the first few hours of a 24-hour ceasefire – the latest attempt to end intensive fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, paramilitary group. Reports said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia-brokered ceasefire took effect from 6am, 04:00 GMT on Saturday with hopes by the mediators that a pause in fighting will facilitate the safe passage of desperately needed humanitarian aid across the country.

“We have not been able to hear any sound of artillery shellings,” Morgan said on Saturday from Omdurman, located on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital.

The ceasefire is also hoped to halt the fighting that has been raging since April 15 when a rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo exploded into open warfare.

A string of previous ceasefires have fallen through with both sides accusing the other of violations.

The warring parties have agreed to abide by the ceasefire, Morgan said, but the shorter ceasefire when compared with others in the past is partly to test whether it will actually be honoured this time.

Frustration
The US and Saudi Arabia said they shared “frustration” over the past violations, threatening to dismantle ceasefire talks if fighting continues.

Residents are waiting to see how the ceasefire will play out before they attempt to make a move, whether to stock up on basic commodities, or to try and leave Khartoum because of the continuing fighting, Morgan said

“A one-day truce is much less than we aspire for,” a resident of Khartoum North, Mahmud Bashir said. “We look forward to an end to this damned war.”

Aljazeera/Shakirat Sadiq