Two warring sides in Sudan, army and the RSF agrees to a 72-hour ceasefire from Tuesday

According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting from Tuesday at 10:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time. The announcement comes after 48 hours of negotiations between the two warring sides. The ceasefire is expected to allow for the evacuation of foreign nationals caught in the conflict zone. However, there is a sense of skepticism about the announcement since two previous ceasefires were not respected by either side. Since the fighting began on April 15, at least 400 people have been killed. UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned that the violence could cause a ‘catastrophic conflagration’ that could spread deep into Africa in the near future.

The RSF stated that they affirmed their ‘commitment to a complete ceasefire during the truce period’, while the army did not immediately comment on the development. Meanwhile, locals and foreigners living in the capital Khartoum have been advised to stay indoors, and food and water supplies have been running low due to damage to infrastructure caused by explosions from the conflict.

Many countries are struggling to evacuate their diplomats and civilians from the densely populated areas of the capital. However, some convoys have encountered ‘robbery and looting,’ according to Blinken. The US is considering resuming its diplomatic presence in Sudan, but the country’s conditions remain ‘very challenging.’

Sudan has experienced an ‘internet blackout,’ with connectivity at just 2% of ordinary levels, according to monitoring group NetBlocks. The internet in Khartoum has been down since Sunday night. Since the conflict began, thousands of people, including Sudanese citizens, have fled the country.

The Sudanese army and RSF were running the country jointly after deposing President Omar al-Bashir in October 2021. They formed a Sovereign Council led by Army Chief General Abdel al-Burhan and co-led by RSF Chief General Mohamed Hamdan. The army proposed integrating the RSF into itself within two years, but the RSF sought to delay it for ten years. The army also supports transferring power to a civilian government, another point of contention between the two former Sovereign Council members. RSF Chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo claims to have seized most of the official sites in Khartoum, and the RSF appears to be calling the diplomatic shots as the group in control of Africa’s third-largest nation.