Khartoum [Sudan], November 7 (HBTV): The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have agreed to a proposal by the United States for a ceasefire after more than two years of conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Al Jazeera reported.
In a statement on Thursday, the paramilitary group said it accepted a ‘humanitarian ceasefire’ proposed by the US-led ‘Quad’ mediation group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, ‘to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians’.
There was no immediate response from Sudan’s military regarding the announcement.
Earlier this week, the US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, said efforts were ongoing to finalise the truce and that both sides had ‘agreed in principle’, as per Al Jazeera. ‘We have not recorded any initial objection from either side. We are now focusing on the fine details,’ Boulos said on Monday, according to the report.
On Thursday, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had declared that his forces were ‘striving for the defeat of the enemy’. ‘Soon, we will avenge those who have been killed and abused ... in all the regions attacked by the rebels,’ he said in a televised address, as per Al Jazeera.
The ceasefire announcement comes amid mounting allegations that the RSF committed mass killings following its capture of el-Fasher in North Darfur state on October 26, after an 18-month siege.
The RSF now controls much of the western Darfur region and parts of southern Sudan, while the army maintains control over the north, east, and central regions along the Nile and the Red Sea.
According to the United Nations, more than 70,000 people have fled el-Fasher and nearby areas since the RSF takeover, with witnesses and human rights groups reporting ‘summary executions’, sexual violence, and mass killings of civilians.
The World Health Organization also reported the ‘tragic killing of more than 460 patients and medical staff’ at a former children’s hospital during the city’s capture.
Both the RSF and SAF have been accused of war crimes. A September report by the UN Human Rights Council alleged extrajudicial killings, large-scale attacks against civilians, and torture by both sides, and cited ‘overwhelming evidence’ of sexual violence primarily committed by RSF and SAF members, Al Jazeera reported.
(ANI)