Sudan’s paramilitaries agree to US-backed humanitarian ceasefire proposal
Announcement comes after Sudan’s RSF was accused of mass killings in the captured city of El-Fasher
Explosions were heard near the army-controlled Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Friday, according to witnesses, just a day after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed they agreed to a humanitarian truce.
Residents in Omdurman reported the blasts near a military base and a power station, causing local outages. Meanwhile, people 300km (186 miles) north in Atbara saw drones engaged by anti-aircraft defences.
The RSF, at war with the regular army for more than two years, announced on Thursday that they had agreed to a proposal for a humanitarian truce put forward by mediators.
The announcement follows the paramilitaries’ capture of the major city of El-Fasher, which dislodged the army from its last stronghold in the vast western Darfur region.
They have since been accused of mass killings, looting and sexual violence there, and have in recent days appeared to turn their focus to the neighbouring Kordofan region, where fierce battles were under way.
“In response to the aspirations and interests of the Sudanese people, the Rapid Support Forces affirms its agreement to enter into the humanitarian truce proposed by the Quad countries,” the RSF said in a statement, referring to the United States, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.