Sudan’s paramilitary, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has agreed to a humanitarian truce that was proposed by a US-led mediator group, also known as the Quad.
The RSF’s agreement to the proposal on Thursday comes over a week after the group seized Al Fasher city, which has been under siege for over 18 months.
"In response to the aspirations and interests of the Sudanese people, the Rapid Support Forces affirms its agreement to enter into the humanitarian truce proposed by the Quad countries," the RSF said in a statement, referring to the United States, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
A Sudan military official told The Associated Press that the army will only agree to a truce which includes withdrawing from civilian areas and giving up weapons.
On Tuesday, the US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said that efforts are ongoing to reach a humanitarian truce in Sudan, as the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to an initial plan in principle.
The US adviser said that the current initiative, which aims to reach a mutual understanding for a complete ceasefire and a post-truce phase in Sudan, came within the framework that was agreed upon by the International Quad in Washington in September.
The US-led committee also suggested launching a 9-month transition process following the initial humanitarian truce to establish an independent, civilian-led government in Sudan.
On October 26, the RSF captured the city of Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and committed massacres against civilians, according to local and international organisations, amid warnings that the assault could entrench the geographical partition of Sudan.
Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end.
The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
