by Reuters: Fighting in Sudan ended overnight after the army and a rival paramilitary force agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire But an eyewitness said gunfire could be heard on Tuesday as Arab, Asian and Western countries rushed to evacuate their citizens.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the ceasefire. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement earlier and said it followed two days of intense talks. The two sides have not adhered to several previous temporary ceasefire deals.
A power struggle broke out between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on 15 April, and it killed at least 427 people, closed hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and the RSF to maintain an immediate and complete ceasefire,” Blinken said in a statement.
A Reuters eyewitness said he heard periodic gunshots in the town of Omdurman, adjacent to the capital, after an overnight of relative calm.
The British government began a mass evacuation of its citizens on military flights from an airfield north of Khartoum, which was open to people with British passports.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said on Twitter: “We have started contacting citizens directly and providing routes out of the country.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday that all Japanese who wished to leave Sudan had been evacuated.
The Swiss foreign minister said on Tuesday that Bern was monitoring opportunities to evacuate its remaining citizens, but added that it was having difficulty evacuating people with dual nationalities – the majority of Swiss remaining in the country.
Switzerland has already closed its embassy and evacuated the staff and their families and they arrived in Bern early Tuesday morning.
A Reuters reporter said before the evening ceasefire was announced, airstrikes and ground fighting rocked Omdurman, one of three adjacent towns in the capital region, and clashes also broke out in the capital, Khartoum.
Near the international airport in central Khartoum, near the army headquarters, the sky was covered with thick smoke, and artillery fire blanketed the surrounding areas.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said violence in the country bordering the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions “risks a catastrophic firestorm … that could affect the entire region and beyond”.
Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and citizens of neighboring countries, have fled instability and difficult living conditions in Egypt, Chad and South Sudan in the past few days. Foreign governments are working to bring their citizens to safety.