RSF agrees to extend ceasefire for further 72 hours in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday said it agrees to extend the humanitarian ceasefire for further 72 hours in response to Saudi-US mediation efforts.

On Monday, a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire came into effect and ended on Thursday midnight, amid calls by regional powers to extend the fragile ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese army announced that it agrees to extend the ceasefire for one week under an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), yet, RSF did not mention the one-week ceasefire proposal in its statement.

"In response to the Saudi American mediation, we announce extending the duration of the ceasefire for further 72 hours in order to open humanitarian passages and facilitate the movement of the citizens and residents [...] to reach safe areas," RSF statement said.

RSF also demanded the Sudanese army abide by the ceasefire and not attack the locations of the RSF.

The Sudanese army said on Friday that calm has been taking place in all of Sudan except for some parts in the capital Khartoum and in El-Obeid city, northern Kordofan province, southern the country.

Despite consecutive ceasefires, fighting between the two rival generals in Sudan – army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – has continued since April 15, leaving more than 550 people dead, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”

Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar