Battle-weary Sudanese hope latest truce finally holds

KHARTOUM: Air raids, gunfire and explosions rocked Sudan´s capital on Sunday hours after rival generals agreed to a one-week ceasefire, the latest in a series of truces that have been systematically violated.

The truce is set to take effect at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) on Monday, the United States and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

It “shall remain in effect for seven days and may be extended with the agreement of both parties”, the statement added.

In a deserted neighbourhood of Khartoum North, Hussein Mohammed is hoping that, finally, the guns will silence.

The United Nations says fighting has driven nearly 650,000 Khartoum residents from their homes, but Mohammed has remained, sheltering in place with his sick mother.

“They have announced truces that they have not held to before,” he told AFP. “We hope that this time mediators can monitor that the ceasefire is implemented.”

In a statement published Sunday by the official Saudi Press Agency, Riyadh acknowledged the multiple truce violations since fighting began on April 15.

“Unlike previous ceasefires, the agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the parties and will be supported by a US-Saudi and international-supported ceasefire monitoring mechanism,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.

The fighting pits the Sudanese army, commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Burhan´s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Battles have killed around 1,000 people and displaced more than one million, internally and into neighbouring countries. Millions more are trapped with sporadic access to water, electricity or medicine.