Despite a US-mediated agreement between the warring generals to cease shooting for 72 hours in order to open the door for negotiations on a longer-term ceasefire, sporadic gunshots erupted in several areas of the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday.
Shortly before the cease-fire went into effect at 2200 GMT on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) had agreed to the cease-fire “following intense negotiations”.
Forces loyal to army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is in charge of the RSF, have been engaged in combat.
In order to establish a committee that would supervise work on a long-term ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements, Blinken stated that the U.S. will coordinate with local, regional, international, and Sudanese civilian interests.
Previous attempts to cease the fighting fell short, but the three-day truce was acknowledged by both parties.
“This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions,” the RSF tweeted.
Experts have long connected the RSF to the Wagner mercenary group in Russia. On Monday, Secretary Blinken expressed his “deep concern” over Wagner’s potential to make the war in Sudan worse.
The army declared on Facebook that it would uphold the ceasefire if its adversaries did the same.
The main civilian coalition that the two generals overthrew in a coup in 2021, the Forces of Freedom and Change, claimed the ceasefire would allow for “dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire.”
A ten-day period of intense battle, which included airstrikes and artillery barrages, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, many of them civilians and the destruction of some areas in greater Khartoum.
