Sudan's rival forces agree to 3-day cease-fire

By Hussameldin Abdelgadir Salih Mohamed and Muhammed Semiz

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AA) - A 72-hour cease-fire deal was signed between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, according to the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

The deal will take effect at 6 a.m. local time Sunday, it said in a joint statement with the US.

The parties will avoid using warplanes and drones, artillery fire and any military supply activities during the cease-fire, and will facilitate humanitarian aid efforts.

Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the RSF since April. Nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the violence, according to local medics.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than 2.2 million people have been displaced by the current conflict.

The UN warned Wednesday that escalating attacks in Darfur could amount to “crimes against humanity.”

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the RSF about the integration of the paramilitary group into the armed forces -- a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since the fall of 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."

The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar