Conflict in Sudan: Warring factions agree to a 72-hour ceasefire
Guwahati: The United States and Saudi Arabia brokered a 72-hour ceasefire between the warring factions in Sudan on Monday as nations work to evacuate their citizens from the African nation.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took to Twitter to write, “Following intense negotiations, the SAF and RSF have agreed to implement and uphold a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire starting midnight, April 24. We welcome their commitment to work with partners and stakeholders for permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements.”
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), according to Al Jazeera, said that the US and Saudi Arabia had negotiated the truce, which is set to begin at midnight local time (22:00 GMT Monday).
Meanwhile, the RSF said in a written statement on Monday that it had agreed to the truce “in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions.”
According to CNN, earlier agreed-upon ceasefires were broken, and if the latest three-day ceasefire of combat holds, it may present a chance to deliver desperately needed essential commodities like food and medical supplies to those who need them.
Additionally, the ceasefire will aid in the efficient exodus of foreign nationals from Sudan. Some nations, including as Spain, Jordan, Italy, France, Denmark, and Germany, have successfully evacuated, while the United Kingdom has evacuated its embassy workers. Additionally, many of their convoys contained foreign nationals.
The kingdom has evacuated 189 individuals, including Americans, from Sudan, according to the Saudi Arabian foreign affairs ministry, CNN said.
Regardless of nationality, there are worries for the safety of individuals who are still in Sudan because to the continued violence and its effects on basic necessities like food, water, and medical treatment.
Blinken claimed on Monday that two days of arduous negotiations led to the agreement on the ceasefire. The opposing paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army have broken multiple temporary truce agreements over the previous week.
In a statement, Blinken said, “During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire. To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders.”
The UN children’s agency has stated that children are paying a high price, with at least nine reportedly killed in the fighting so far and more than 50 badly injured, according to Turkish news agency Anadolu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that at least 413 people have died in the conflict in Sudan.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said during a UN news conference that 413 people have died and 3,551 have been injured as a result of the war so far, according to statistics from the Sudanese government. Conflicts between the army of the African country and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are the cause of the current warfare.
According to Margaret Harris, there have been 11 confirmed attacks on medical facilities thus far, including 10 since April 15.
She said, “According to the Ministry of Health in Sudan, the number of health facilities that have stopped working is 20. And also, according to Ministry of Health numbers, the number of health facilities at risk of stopping is 12.”
“So this means that all those people who need care, and this is not only the people who’ve been injured hearings, terrible fighting, but that the people who were needing treatment before and continuing treatment,” are impacted, added Harris, Anadolu reported.
Meanwhile, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder in the same press conference said, “Clearly, as ever, the fighting takes a devastating toll on children.”
“We now have reports of at least nine children killed and at least 50 injured. Those numbers will continue to rise as long as fighting continues,” he added.
According to him, large numbers of people are trapped and do not have access to electricity, reported Anadolu.
Elder said, “They’re terrified of running out of food, water, and medicines,” adding, “One of our grave concerns is around hospitals that have come under fire.”
He further said that Sudan already had one of the world’s highest malnutrition rates among children. “
Elder said Sudan already had one of the world’s highest malnutrition rates among children. “And we’ve now got a situation where critical life-saving support for around 50,000 children is at risk,” mentioned the UNICEF spokesperson.
Moreover, the fighting also puts at risk “the cold chain” in Sudan, including over USD 40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to breaks in the power supply and the inability to restock generators with fuel, told Elder.
According to Anadolu, quoting UNICEF, children are seeking refuge in schools and daycare facilities while combat rages all around them, and children’s hospitals are being forced to evacuate as shelling gets closer.
According to Elder, the country’s children had great humanitarian needs before the conflict increased, with an estimated three-quarters of them living in abject poverty.
Similar to this, over 6,00,000 children suffered from severe acute malnutrition, 7 million children were not enrolled in school, and 11.5 million children and community members need emergency water and sanitation services.
It should be noted that combat broke out last Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF in the city of Khartoum and its neighbouring areas, according to Anadolu.