World

Sudan crisis: Warring groups agree on 72-hour ceasefire, evacuation speeds up

April 25, 2023
Bharat Times

by India Today World DeskSudan’s warring generals have agreed to a three-day ceasefire after 10 days of urban fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere. more than 400 people died and fueled mass exodus of foreign nationals.

Even foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, avoiding violence amid fears of a rivalry between Sudanese army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Desperately looking for. Hemedti’ an all-out civil war could break out.

Amani al-Taweel, an Egyptian expert on Africa, warned of “horrendous suffering” for being unable to leave the Sudanese. Speaking to The Associated Press, al-Taweel said that once the evacuation is complete, “the warring parties will not heed any calls for a ceasefire or ceasefire.”

Here are the latest developments in the violence in Sudan:

  • After previous attempts to stop the conflict failed, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday: “After intense negotiations over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Force (RSF) are ready to implement Nationwide ceasefire for 72 hours starting midnight of 24th April.”

    RSF confirmed in Khartoum that it had agreed to a ceasefire starting at midnight to facilitate humanitarian efforts. The SAF said on its Facebook page that it also agreed to the ceasefire agreement.

  • The announcement of the ceasefire comes in the wake of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ warning that the violence in Sudan, which has spread to the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions, “risks a catastrophic fire … that could affect the entire region”. May be further”.

    Guterres urged the 15 members of the Security Council to use their influence to get Sudan back on the path of democratic transition.

  • More than 4,000 people have so far fled the country in the foreign-organised evacuation that began on Saturday. US special forces launched an operation with Chinook helicopters on Sunday to rescue the diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue operation. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been evacuated during a “long and intense weekend” involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

    Groups of South Koreans, Palestinians, Kenyans, Saudis, Japanese and other nationalities made the 13-hour drive from Khartoum to Port Sudan to board their countries’ planes.

  • Continued fighting between the army and rival paramilitary group RSF in the city of Khartoum, hours before a recent ceasefire, saw heavy gunfire and thunderous explosions. The airstrike ravaged the Nile-banking Kalakala district for an hour, until the area was “razed to the ground,” Atiya Abdullah Atiya, secretary of the doctors’ syndicate, told The Associated Press.

    Smoke rises from a building next to a damaged car on a street in Khartoum. (AFP photo)

    Millions of Sudanese are trying to survive severe shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel, as well as power and internet blackouts.

  • More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 injured since the fighting began on April 15. Burhan’s SAF has had the upper hand in the fighting in Khartoum, but Hemedti’s RSF still controls several districts in the capital and neighboring districts. The city of Omdurman, and several large citadels across the country.