Saudi Arabia, US announce 24-hour ceasefire in Sudan between SAF, RSF

Saudi Arabia and the US announced Friday that the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will observe a 24-hour country-wide ceasefire.

The ceasefire between the warring factions would begin on June 10 at 6:00 a.m. local time, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“The parties agreed that during the ceasefire they will refrain from prohibited movements, attacks, use of aircraft or drones, aerial bombardment, artillery strike, reinforcement of positions and resupply of forces, and will refrain from seeking military advantage during the ceasefire,” the statement said.

The facilitators, Saudi Arabia and the US, in the statement said they “share the frustration of the Sudanese people about the uneven implementation of previous ceasefire,” and added that the latest initiative is an effort to “break the cycle of violence.”

The civil war has triggered a major humanitarian crisis that threatens to destabilize the region. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced within Sudan and a further 476,800 have fled into neighboring countries.

Previous attempts to maintain a ceasefire since the conflict erupted on April 15 have failed to a great extent; it helped reduce violence but did not halt it entirely.

In the latest statement, it concluded that a breach of the truce would result in the facilitators move to “adjourn” the Jeddah talks.

On June 1, the US and Saudi Arabia announced a suspension of the Jeddah talks, citing “repeated serious violations” of the short-term ceasefire and recent ceasefire extension by Sudan’s warring parties.