SUDAN’S warring factions continue to fight on after failing to agree on a ceasefire despite committing to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access. Air strikes and artillery pounded Khartoum on Friday, a day after a declaration of principles was signed in Saudi Arabia.
Neither side – the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the national army – has yet released statements acknowledging the deal. The conflict, which started on April 15, has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and could plunge Sudan into a full-blown civil war. The United Nations (UN) said on Friday that 200,000 people have fled into neighbouring states, aggravating the ballooning humanitarian crisis.
UN Sudan envoy Volker Perthes said he expected ceasefire talks to resume on Friday or Saturday. He added that previous truces broke down because both sides thought they could win, but neither now believes that victory would be quick. His upbeat assessment contrasted with disappointment among many in the capital. Mohamed Abdallah, 39, living in Khartoum, told Reuters, ‘We were expecting that the agreement would calm down the war, but we woke up to artillery fire and airstrikes.’
In Darfur in the west, fighting between local militia and rebels suddenly flared again in the city of Geneina, with gunfire rattling neighbourhoods after two weeks of comparative calm and artillery hammering the city for the first time. In other parts of Darfur, where a war has simmered since 2003 killing 300,000 people and displacing 2.5 million, locally arranged ceasefires between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appeared to hold.
Thursday’s deal, the product of Saudi and US-brokered talks in Jeddah, includes commitments to allowing safe passage for civilians, medics, and humanitarian relief, and to minimize harm to civilians and public facilities. US officials said negotiations for a ceasefire would follow, and Saudi Arabia called the agreement ‘a first step.’ Mediators had pushed for the limited agreement to reduce tension over the wider ceasefire.
However, a senior US State Department official said the two sides ‘are quite far apart’ and said he did not expect them to fully comply with the agreement. The two sides agreed to quit private homes and other property, but a family in Bahri said RSF fighters had tried to take over their house on Friday morning. Khartoum residents have frequently accused the paramilitary of taking over houses and hospitals as part of a tactic to embed in districts through the city as it fights an army that can call on air power.
The RSF has denied the claim, accusing the army and other armed groups of invading property. ‘The parties must convey clear and unequivocal instructions to lower ranks’ to enforce Thursday’s agreement, said the United Nations, African Union, and regional organisation IGAD. However, Cameron Hudson of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said he doubted the RSF had enough control over its fighters to do so.
Previous ceasefire agreements have been repeatedly violated, leaving civilians to navigate a terrifying landscape of chaos and bombardment with failing power and water, little food, and a collapsing health system. Many UN and other aid agencies have suspended aid to Sudan and, in particular, Khartoum, awaiting guarantees their stores and staff will be safe.
The World Health Organisation has said at least 600 people have been killed, and more than 5,000 injured in the fighting, but that real numbers are likely much higher. The Health Ministry reckons at least 450 people were killed last month in West Darfur state alone. In Darfur, the activist Gouja said Thursday’s deal could help solidify locally arranged ceasefires. ‘But if there’s no mechanism to monitor, then it won’t be an improvement,’ he added.
