Warring sides in Sudan urged to extend ‘imperfect’ ceasefire

The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the week-long truce brokered by the US and the Saudis.

However, the ceasefire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

In a joint statement early on Sunday, the US and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce, which expires at 9.45pm local time on Monday.

“While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” the statement said.

The statement also urged Sudan’s military government and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to continue negotiations.

The fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the powerful RSF. Both military chief Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo led the 2021 coup that removed the Western-backed government of prime minister Abdalla Hamdok.

The fighting turned Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman into a battleground. The clashes also spread elsewhere in the country, including the war-wracked Darfur region.

The conflict has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and pushed the country to near collapse. It forced more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, or to neighbouring nations.

Residents reported renewed sporadic clashes on Sunday in parts of Omdurman, where the army’s aircraft were seen flying over the city. Fighting was also reported in al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur.

The US-Saudi statement came two days after Gen Burhan demanded in a letter to the UN secretary-general that the UN envoy to his country be removed.

UN chief Antonio Guterres was “shocked” by the letter, a spokesman said.

The envoy, Volker Perthes, has been a key mediator in Sudan, first during the country’s fitful attempts to transition to democracy and then during efforts to end the current fighting.

Gen Burhan’s letter came after Mr Perthes accused the warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations.

In his briefing to the UN Security Council last week, Mr Perthes blamed the leaders of the military and the RSF for the war, saying they have chosen to “settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the table”.