Sudan’s military rivals announce humanitarian corridors amid clashes

By Bahram Abdel Moneim

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudan’s conflicting military rivals on Sunday agreed to a UN proposal to open hours-long safe passages for humanitarian cases.

The humanitarian pause comes amid clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and its surrounding areas since Saturday.

In a statement, the Sudanese army said the humanitarian passage will open for three hours as of 4 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

The statement said that the miliary reserves “the right to respond in the event of any violations by the rebel militia.”

The RSF, for its part, announced a 4-hour humanitarian passage.

"We reserve our right to protect citizens and to respond to any attacks by the militias of the former regime,” the paramilitary force added in a statement.

At least 56 people have been killed and hundreds injured in the fighting that erupted between the two sides on Saturday.

While the RSF accused the army of attacking its forces south of Khartoum with light and heavy weapons, the military said the paramilitary force was "spreading lies" and declared it a "rebel" group.

The dispute between the two sides came to the surface on Thursday when the army said recent movements by the RSF had happened without coordination and were illegal, with their rift centering around a proposed transition to civilian rule.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021 when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political forces as a “coup”.

Sudan’s transitional period which started in August 2019 was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

* Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report.