30 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have announced this Sunday a 72-hour extension for the ceasefire for humanitarian reasons that expired at midnight this Sunday.
The ceasefire is the result of mediation between the United States and Saudi Arabia, the Army reported in a statement collected by the official Saudi news agency, SUNA. The military condition the validity of the ceasefire to compliance by the other party.
“Although we have observed the intentions of the rebels to try to attack some positions, we hope that they respect the ceasefire requirements,” the Army said.
The RSF have previously announced that they will extend the ceasefire in force for another 72 hours. “In response to international, regional and local appeals, we announce the extension of the humanitarian truce for 72 hours, starting tonight,” the armed group announced on its Twitter account.
This decision seeks to “open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, and allow them to meet their needs and reach safe areas,” the RSF has made known.
In the last hours, the Arab media ‘Al Sharq al Awsat’ reported, citing its own sources, an international diplomatic drive to extend the truce after the arrival, this Sunday, of the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross with eight tons of emergency medical supplies.
However, the RSF has denounced the Army for its “continuous violations” of the ceasefire, with the support of “shadow brigades and extremist remnants of the old regime” of former President Omar Hasan al Bashir, ousted in 2019, “in clear violation of those declared the humanitarian armistice that should be implemented for the benefit of our people”.
The Union of Doctors of Sudan has reported this Sunday that it has counted 425 civilians dead and 2,091 injured since the start of the clashes, on April 15, and has denounced that the fighting continues despite the ceasefire agreement that entered into effective at midnight on Thursday.
In fact, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has announced the dispatch to the region of its head of Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, “given the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian crisis” in which Sudan is plunged, aggravated by the clashes between the Army and the RSF.
