Sudan conflict: Warring sides agree to new truce after days of intense fighting

Sudan's warring sides,the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),agreed to a new 72-hour ceasefire from Sunday (June 18), as fighting intensified with deadly air strikes in the capital city of Khartoum and an exodus of wounded from Darfur over the border into Chad. According to a statement from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America announce the agreement of representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a ceasefire throughout Sudan for a period of 72 hours."

The ceasefire would take place from 6 am (0400 GMT), the mediators said. "The two sides agreed that during the ceasefire period, they would refrain from movements and attacks, the use of warplanes or drones, artillery bombardment, reinforcement of positions, resupply of forces, or refrain from attempting to achieve military gains," they added.

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The mediators also said that the Sudanese army and the RSF agreed to allow the freedom of movement and the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Sudan.

Air strikes kill 17 in Khartoum

The conflict in Sudan has been going on since April 15 with multiple truces agreed and broken. On Saturday, 17 civilians including five children were killed in air strikes in Khartoum, the news agency AFP reported citing a citizens' support committee.

Earlier, Khartoum residents reported air strikes around Yarmouk,which is home to a weapons manufacturing and arms depot complex where the RSF claimed "full control" in early June.

And on Friday, deputy army chief Yasser Atta warned civilians to keep away from houses where the RSF were located because the army "will attack them at any time".

Previously, a 24-hour ceasefire from June 10-11 provided Khartoum's residents with some relief from air strikes and artillery exchanges that ravaged neighbourhoods across the capital city. However, fighting resumed within 10 minutes of the ceasefire ending.

An influx of injured people in Chad's hospitals

On Saturday, medics in Chad said that they were overwhelmed by hundreds of wounded people fleeing Sudan's Darfur region. "We are overwhelmed in the operating theatre. We urgently need more beds and more staff," said Seybou Diarra, a physician and project coordinator in Adre, Chad, for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, AFP reported.

In a statement, the MSF said that as violence raged in West Darfur, wounded people were coming in waves to the hospital in Adre. Over 600 patients, most with gunshot wounds, arrived at the facility over three days -- more than half of them on Friday, the statement added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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