Paramilitary RSF says it agreed to Sudan humanitarian truce proposed by Quad nations

ISTANBUL

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Thursday that it has agreed to a humanitarian truce in Sudan proposed by the Quad countries – the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

In a statement, the rebel group said it looks forward to “implementing the agreement and immediately commencing discussions on the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities and the fundamental principles guiding the political process in Sudan.”

It called for addressing the root causes of the conflict and establishing “a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace.”

There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese government on the statement.

Khartoum has earlier set conditions for any political dialogue with the RSF, including the withdrawal of the rebel group from occupied cities and the exclusion of the rebel group from any future political role.

On Wednesday, the Joint Force of Armed Movements in Darfur, a coalition fighting alongside the Sudanese army, rejected any political solution that involves the RSF as an equal actor to the state.

On Sept. 12, the Quad called for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan to enable the delivery of emergency aid to all areas as a step toward a permanent ceasefire.

The RSF captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and a strategic city in the region, on Oct. 26 and carried out massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations, triggering warnings that the takeover could cement a geographic partition of the war-torn country.

Out of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except some northern areas in North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army rules over most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.