Sudan's warring parties agree to 3-day ceasefire, US announces

WASHINGTON

Sudan's warring generals have agreed to maintain a three-day ceasefire to halt escalating violence in the East African nation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday.

Blinken said "intense negotiations" led to the agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is more commonly known as Hemedti.

"During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," Blinken said in a statement.

"To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan," he added.

The US over the weekend shuttered its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated its staff from the country as violence continued to spiral. Washington is currently exploring options for resuming its diplomatic activity in the country, potentially with a new presence based in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, the State Department said earlier Monday.

At least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others injured since April 15 when conflict broke out in the capital Khartoum and other cities between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which the military had declared a rebel group.

Disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and RSF over military security reform. The reform envisages the full participation of the RSF in the military, one of the main issues in the negotiation process carried out by international and regional parties for the transition to civilian and democratic rule in Sudan.