Sudan’s unsteady ceasefire has been extended by five days by the warring sides battling to take control of the country after two international mediators expressed concerns about persistent truce violations, the news agency AFP reports.
The cease-fire extension between Sudan’s military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, was announced in a joint statement late Monday by Saudi Arabia and the US.
The last ceasefire agreement had been declared a week ago to allow in much-needed aid and permit civilians to flee.
But by the seventh day of the truce, no humanitarian corridors had been secured, with both sides blaming the other for truce violations.
The US and Saudi Arabia have been mediating talks between the military and the RSF in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. So far, there have been seven declared cease-fires, all of which have been violated.
In the statement, the US and Saudi Arabia noted that the military continued to carry out airstrikes, while the RSF was still occupying people’s homes and seizing properties.
Sudan’s conflict, which started on April 15, has displaced nearly 1.4 million people, including 1 million internally and 330,000 who have crossed into neighbouring countries, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
