Sudan factions agree temporary ceasefire to evacuate wounded

The two sides in the conflict in Sudan have agreed to a temporary ceasefire so that “urgent humanitarian cases” can be brought to safety.

Representatives from the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have agreed to the proposal by the United Nations to pause fighting between 16:00 and 19:00 local time (14:00 and 17:00 GMT) on Sunday.

General Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces supported the proposal.

While welcoming the agreement, UN representative in Sudan Volker Perthes said they will be held accountable to honour it.

Sudan conflict

The notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at the centre of this dispute, which is over the move towards civlian rule.

Headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – in effect the country’s deputy leader – it has been accused of human rights abuses. These include the June 2019 killing of at least 120 protesters at a sit-in demonstration at Army headquarters.

The RSF was formed in 2013 predominantly with fighters from the notorious Janjaweed militia that brutally fought off rebels in Darfur.

In 2015, some 40,000 of its members joined the Saudi-led military intervention in the war in Yemen.

RSF fighters have also been sent to Libya.

In order to facilitate a proposed transition to civilian rule, there was a plan to start integrating the RSF into the army.

But a dispute between Gen Dagolo and the head of the Army, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, over the timetable for the change and who would head the new integrated force has held things up.

Those tensions spilled over into the fighting which broke out on Saturday.