Warring factions in Sudan agree to 3-day ceasefire

Nepal Views

Kathmandu: The warring factions in Sudan has agreed to a 3-day ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Blinken said the 72-hour pause in fighting had been agreed between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after 48 hours of negotiations, starting at midnight on April 24.

There will be hopes the ceasefire will allow civilians to leave the city. Foreign governments will also hope it will allow for continued evacuations out of the country.

‘The United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,’ Blinken said, ‘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.’

At least 400 people have been killed since fighting broke out on 15 April, wounding thousands of people. The bombing has hit key infrastructure, like water pipes, meaning that some people have been forced to drink form the river Nile.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned the violence in Sudan risks causing a “catastrophic conflagration” that could engulf the whole region and beyond.

Since the violence began, residents of the battle-scarred capital Khartoum have been told to stay inside, and food and water supplies have been running low.