Warring sides in Sudan agreed to a three-day cease-fire starting at midnight Tuesday, but many Sudan residents say that shelling has continued, despite the cease-fire agreement.
“The United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, per CNN. “To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.”
Both fighting factions — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces — agreed to the cease-fire in a written statement, saying it was needed “in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions,” per CNN.
However, some Sudan residents say violence has continued in the streets of Omdurman where “heavy artillery began again around 11 a.m. with errant shells tearing up houses,” The Washington Post reported.
“Yes, definitely, they are still fighting,” Musab Abdalhadi, who lives in the capital Khartoum, told The New York Times.
What caused the fighting in Sudan?
The two groups were working toward finalizing plans to return the country to civilian rule when fighting broke out because each side grew concerned about losing power to the other with the new plan. Violence broke out on April 15.
Since then, at least 259 people have been killed, and more than 4,000 have been wounded, according to the Times.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan commands the Sudan Armed Forces, while Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is the leader of the Rapid Support Forces.
American diplomats and their families were airlifted out of the country Saturday, and multiple other countries followed suit, evacuating their citizens from Sudan, per Deseret News.