United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday said “the catastrophic conflagration” in Sudan could engulf the whole region and beyond, urging warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAR) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to come to the negotiating table and end the fighting.
Addressing ambassadors in the Security Council, Guterres said that hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of others injured since the outbreak of violence on April 15.
Guterres called on the warring parties to stop combat operations in densely populated areas and to allow unhindered humanitarian aid operations, including access to food, water and other essential supplies and evacuation from combat zones.
“I am in constant contact with the parties to the conflicts and have called on them to de-escalate tensions and to return to the negotiating table. We will continue our efforts with our partners to secure a permanent halt to the fighting as soon as possible,” said Guterres.
“Working with humanitarian organizations on the ground, we are reconfiguring our presence in Sudan to enable us to continue supporting the Sudanese people. Let me be clear: The United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time,” said the UN chief.
The clashes continued into Monday with deadly fighting erupting in several locations.
At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 others wounded in the deadly clashes, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned civilians are facing difficulties in obtaining daily necessities such as water and food, making their life even harder.
New Ceasefire
The warring factions meanwhile agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday, while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to evacuate their citizens from the country.
Late Monday, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement first and said it followed two days of intense negotiations. However, the two sides have not abided by several previous temporary truce deals.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Blinken said in a statement.
He said the U.S. would coordinate with regional, international and Sudanese civilian interests to create a committee that would oversee work on a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.
The RSF confirmed in Khartoum that it had agreed to the ceasefire, starting at midnight, to facilitate humanitarian efforts. “We affirm our commitment to a complete ceasefire during the truce period”, the RSF said.
The SAF said on its Facebook page that it also agreed to the truce deal. A coalition of Sudanese civil society groups that had been part of negotiations on a transition to democracy welcomed the news.
Tens of thousands of people including Sudanese and citizens from neighboring countries have fled in the past few days, to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, while foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety.
One 65-vehicle convoy took dozens of children, along with hundreds of diplomats and aid workers, on an 800-km, 35-hour journey in searing heat from Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
