Sudan Heads For 7-Day Ceasefire After Air Strikes Hit Capital Khartoum As Conflict Enters 6th Week

Air strikes hit the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday, just days before the fighting parties are to enter a seven-day ceasefire for humanitarian efforts.

The Sudan war intensified on Saturday after the capital Khartoum was hit by air strikes, just days before the battle-torn country prepares to begin another tentative ceasefire of seven days. According to a report by Reuters, the warring factions in Sudan signed an agreement late on Saturday for a seven-day ceasefire as fighting entered its sixth week. 

AFP reported that air strikes and artillery exchanges shook the Sudanese capital Saturday and armed men ransacked the Qatari embassy as the day of ceasefire neared. The ceasefire will take effect at 9:45 p.m. Khartoum time (1945 GMT) on Monday (May 22), the report quoted mediators the United States and Saudi Arabia, as saying in a joint statement.  

It is pertinent to note that a number of ceasefires have been violated by both sides in Sudan earlier. However, Reuters reported, this agreement will be enforced by a US-Saudi and international-supported monitoring mechanism. 

Apart from a temporary truce, the agreement also calls for distributing humanitarian assistance, restoring essential services and withdrawing forces from hospitals and essential public facilities. 

"It is past time to silence the guns and allow unhindered humanitarian access. I implore both sides to uphold this agreement — the eyes of the world are watching," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as quoted by Reuters. 

The continuous fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a collapse of order in the country. Millions have left the country with no clarity on the future, stocks of food, cash and essentials are rapidly dwindling. Mass looting has hit banks, embassies, aid warehouses and even churches, the report said. 

The ceasefire agreement said that the ceasefire shall remain in effect for seven days and may be extended with the agreement of both parties.  

Notably, the power struggle between regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), erupted into fighting on April 15. There has been no peace in Sudan since then. 

The conflict has killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians. Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned of a fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation in Africa's third-largest country, where, it said, one in three people already relied on aid before the war.