Residents of Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum reported intermittent artillery fire early on Tuesday, although the violence reportedly subsided later in the day, the first of the most recent ceasefire.
The seven-day cease-fire between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia, went into effect on Monday.
Although fighting has continued throughout earlier ceasefires, there is some optimism that this one will last because it is the first to be publicly agreed to as a result of talks in Jeddah.
The fighting generals have been asked to uphold the accord by the United Nations.
In the best interests of Sudan and its citizens, I urge both parties to put a halt to the hostilities and resume talks, According to Volker Perthes, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, “the warring parties have fought their war with little respect for the laws and conventions of war in Khartoum, Darfur, and elsewhere.
Activists have complained to the UN of severe human rights abuses against civilians during the fighting, saying these must be investigated.
Across the country, people could be seen taking advantage of the ceasefire to stock up on food and other essential supplies.
Witnesses in Khartoum reported a welcome respite in the fighting after a rocky start to the humanitarian truce.
Around noon on Tuesday, they said a relative calm had taken hold.
More than five weeks of war have pitted the army, led by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
An estimated 1,000 people were killed in the fighting, and over a million Sudanese abandoned their homes, including 250,000 who fled the nation.
According to the United Nations, more than half of the population, or 25 million people, are currently in need of humanitarian assistance.
