The head of Sudan’s paramilitary forces has called for a “temporary ceasefire” amid mounting international pressure as the death toll in the four-day conflict surpasses 180.
Fighting has raged since Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces backed by the president and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces loyal to the country’s powerful vice president, raising fears of a broader civil conflict.
Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the military vice president known as Hemedti who commands the RSF, said on Tuesday that he had agreed to a one-day truce after speaking with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the phone, but that the other side had agreed to a one-day truce. not comply.
“The Rapid Support Forces confirm their agreement to a 24-hour truce to ensure the safe passage of civilians and the evacuation of the wounded,” he said. “Unfortunately, the Sudanese Armed Forces have failed to honor this ceasefire by bombing densely populated areas and endangering civilian lives.”
At least 180 people have been killed and more than 1,800 wounded since the start of the fighting, which is centered in the capital, Khartoum, according to the United Nations.
“Many civilian lives have already been lost,” Blinken told reporters in Japan, where he was attending a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, adding that a US diplomatic convoy came under fire on Monday. According to Blinken, no member of the US forces was injured in the incident, which appeared to be related to the Rapid Support Forces.
“This was a reckless, irresponsible and, of course, unsafe act – a diplomatic convoy with diplomatic plates and the US flag under fire,” he said. Blinken also said he spoke with Sudan’s de facto military president, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
“We of course have deep concerns about the overall security environment,” Blinken said. “This just underscores the need to get a ceasefire and get Sudan back on the track it was on, which was talks and negotiations in order to restore a civilian-led government.”
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said the EU’s ambassador to Sudan was “assaulted in his residence” while a non-governmental Sudanese Doctors’ Committee said that “hospitals in Sudan are being bombed”.
Giving the number of dead and wounded, Volker Perthes, the UN envoy to Sudan, told reporters: “In these current circumstances, under the current circumstances, no aid can be delivered.”
As fighting spread to other parts of the country, particularly the West Darfur region, international and regional pressure to agree a cease-fire intensified.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which groups eight countries in the eastern Horn of Africa, called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”. However, the closure of many of Sudan’s airports and fighting in the capital have hampered personal mediation efforts by leaders from South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti.
“The current conditions do not allow them to exist,” Al-Burhan told Sky News. “There are still clashes between the factions, and the airport is threatened. This is not the right climate for them in the future,” he said.
He added that while he was open to negotiations, his forces would “certainly” defeat Hemedti’s paramilitary forces. “Even if there is surrender, there can still be negotiations,” he said.
Berthes of the United Nations said: “The fighting is taking place between two organized military forces. The two parties that are fighting do not give the impression that they want to mediate for peace between them immediately.”
The fighting in Sudan “has gone beyond a mere power struggle into a struggle for survival” for the RSF, said Mahari Tadele Maru, an analyst from the Horn of Africa. He added that the challenges facing the supremacy and establishment of the armed forces in the Sudanese government are likely to continue in the future.
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