22 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Secretary of the US Department of State, Antony Blinken, celebrated this Friday the three-day truce offered by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and accepted by the Sudanese Army on the occasion of the end of Ramadan.
“I welcome the announcements by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF that they intend to comply with a three-day Eid al Fitr ceasefire,” Blinken explained, adding that he already spoke this Thursday with General Burhan and General Hemedti to urge both “to commit and comply with a ceasefire during this period.”
“First things first. With the fighting lulling, Sudan’s military and civilian leaders must urgently begin negotiations on arrangements for a sustainable ceasefire to prevent further harm to the Sudanese nation,” negotiations that must address the delivery of humanitarian assistance, protection of civilians and security for basic health, water, energy, communications and other infrastructure.
However, he wanted to remind both sides “of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including their obligation to respect all the rights of civilians” and that the international community “remains ready to support a process to end this fight and start a civil government”.
The Sudanese Army has announced this Friday that it accepts the three-day truce offered by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the occasion of the end of Ramadan, but a few hours after this announcement both contenders have once again accused each other of violate the announced truce.
The hostilities broke out last Saturday in the context of an increase in tensions around the reform of the security apparatus and the integration of the paramilitary force — led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, who is also vice president of the Council Transitional Sovereign– within the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition.
