The UN criticizes that the cessation of hostilities on Sunday in Sudan was “partially” respected by the Army and paramilitaries

17 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United Nations criticized this Monday that the agreement to cease hostilities on Sunday was “partially” respected by the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in the context of clashes that have so far left nearly a hundred dead civilians, regardless of the casualties among the fighting forces.

The UN special representative in Sudan and head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, has called on “all parties” to “respect their international obligations, including ensuring the protection of civilians”.

The Army and the RSF agreed on Sunday to open humanitarian corridors for three hours to facilitate the flight of civilians, a process that was confirmed by Perthes himself, who recognized “the efforts of the parties to reach this agreement” and blamed the Army and paramilitaries to implement the commitment adopted.

UNITAMS has indicated in a statement that Perthes “will continue to interact with the Sudanese and with regional and international partners to work towards a cessation of hostilities”, although it has indicated that the clashes “have intensified” during the morning of this Monday. .

The main civil organizations and political parties in Sudan have demanded in unison over the weekend not only the end of the fighting, but also the end of the “militarization” that has dominated “the public space” of the country for decades and, in In particular, since the overthrow four years ago of the dictator Omar Hasan al Bashir after a revolution in which civilians were an instrumental part.

The African country was governed before the outbreak of the fighting by a junta led by the head of the Army, Abdelfatá al Burhan, who had as “number two” the military leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias “Hemedti”. The discrepancies between the two regarding the integration of the paramilitaries in a future unified Army — an agreement prior to the formation of a new unity government led by civilians — ended up degenerating into this conflict.