A 72-hour ceasefire concluded in Sudan between the belligerents under the aegis of the United States officially entered into force on Tuesday, April 25, after 10 days of fighting which left several hundred dead and caused a mass exodus. .
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The army and paramilitaries have confirmed the ceasefire, but it is unclear whether the fighting has stopped in the capital Khartoum. For several days, the belligerents had already announced that they were accepting breaks, before accusing each other of having broken the truce.
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“After intense negotiations over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire”said in a statement the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shortly before the entry into force of the truce at midnight.
The United States in action
In a statement on Facebook, the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, Sudan’s de facto ruler, said they would respect the ceasefire provided their rivals did the same.
The RSF paramilitaries, led by his deputy-turned-rival, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, also announced a “truce dedicated to the opening of humanitarian corridors and to facilitate the movement of civilians”.
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Khaled Omar Youssef, spokesman for the Forces for Freedom and Change (FLC), Sudan’s historic civilian bloc, told AFP that he welcomed “of an American mediation, for the establishment of this humanitarian truce”.
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“It will give rise to a dialogue on the modalities of a definitive ceasefire”he specifies, while the American Secretary of State indicates that he is working with the allies and partners of the United States with a view to setting up a « commission » tasked with negotiating a permanent cessation of hostilities in Sudan.
“During this period, the United States expects the army and the RSF to fully and immediately respect this ceasefire”and warned Antony Blinken.
More than 427 dead
Explosions, air raids and shootings have not stopped since April 15 in Khartoum, pushing thousands of inhabitants from the capital plunged into chaos to exodus. Those who cannot flee try to survive, deprived of water and electricity, subject to food shortages and internet and telephone cuts.
The fighting has already left more than 427 dead and 3,700 injured, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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The violence in this East African country is likely to“invade the whole region and beyond”warned the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
The UN had called earlier on Monday for an end to the fighting to “pull Sudan back from the precipice”. The Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday evening to discuss the conflict.
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Despite the departure of many diplomats and foreign citizens, Volker Perthes, the head of the UN mission which has been trying for four years to obtain from the military in power a transition to democracy, announced that he would remain in Sudan. Foreign capitals have managed to negotiate passages with the two belligerents.
“A first group” Chinese, dozens of South Africans and hundreds of nationals of Arab countries were able to leave on Monday by road, sea or air. More than 1,000 EU nationals were also evacuated.
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Around 700 international staff from the UN, NGOs and embassies “were evacuated to Port Sudan”, the UN said. Dozens of other aid workers were evacuated to Chad from western Darfur, the region hardest hit by fighting with Khartoum.
Most of the foreigners evacuated are diplomatic personnel, such as those from the United States and the United Kingdom. Many nationals are still waiting for a place in the long convoys of white cars or buses that leave continuously from Khartoum.
A war that had been brewing for weeks
Both sides accuse each other of attacking prisons to get hundreds of detainees out and of looting homes and factories. Clashes erupted near several banks.
In a country where inflation is already in three digits in normal times, the kilo of rice or the liter of gasoline are now traded at gold prices. But fuel is the key to escape to Egypt or to reach Port-Sudan and hope to board a boat.
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On Monday evening, nearly 200 people from more than 20 countries landed in the coastal city of Jeddah after a perilous and exhausting journey to safety.
“We made a long trip from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us about 10 or 11 hours” Then “another 20 hours on this boat to go from Port-Sudan to Jeddah”Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha told AFP, his baby girl sobbing in his arms.
Sudanese have already fled to Egypt and South Sudan and Chad, bordering Darfur.
The war had been simmering for weeks between the two rival generals, who had joined forces to oust civilians from power during the 2021 putsch, ending the democratic transition.
