Warring Sudanese Generals Agree on 7-day Ceasefire
According to a statement released by the South Sudan Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, leaders of the opposing militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire from May 4 to 11.
The declaration was made a few days after Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan, started negotiating between the parties in his capacity as an IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) representative.
Mr. Kiir wants to put an end to the conflict between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan, and Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the RSF’s leader.
According to the statement, Messrs. Al-Burhan and Daglo agreed to appoint delegates to the negotiations, which will take place in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
According to the government, no time had been set for the beginning of the negotiations. De-escalation of the conflict is essential given the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian scenario.
Since fighting started on April 15, several 72-hour ceasefires were called; however, these have frequently been broken.
The health ministry reported at the end of last week that the violence had resulted in about 530 fatalities and 4,600 injuries.
However, it is challenging for the authorities to maintain perspective amid the fighting, and it is believed that the actual numbers are much higher.
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that since the outbreak of the unrest, at least 334,000 people had been internally displaced in Sudan.
According to an IOM spokeswoman, the majority of them—roughly 240,000 people—are displaced in the western regions of South and West Darfur.
In Sudan, 3.7 million people were internally displaced prior to the start of the most recent violence.
According to the UNHCR, more than 100,000 Sudanese citizens have applied for asylum in neighboring nations in the meantime.
Numerous people have arrived in Egypt, South Sudan, and Chad.
They include refugees from other nations as well as Sudan, where they had sought refuge.
