Hundreds have been killed and 1.3 million people have fled their homes since the RSF militia and the Sudanese military started battling for control of the country in April
By AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a ceasefire due to expire Monday.
The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the US and the Saudis. However, the ceasefire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.
In a joint statement early Sunday, the US and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce that expires at 9:45 p.m. local time Monday.
Israeli Caracal Brigade soldiers (IDF)- volunteer at Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba
“While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” the statement said.
The statement also urged Sudan’s military government and the rival Rapid Support Forces to continue negotiations.
The fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the powerful RSF. Both military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah al Burhan and RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo led the 2021 coup that removed the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The fighting turned Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman into a battleground. The clashes also spread elsewhere in the country, including the war-wracked Darfur region.
The conflict has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and pushed the country to near collapse. It forced more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, or to neighboring nations.
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