72-hour truce between Sudan's warring generals takes effect
The Hindu
Multiple truces have been agreed and broken in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people
A 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals took effect on Sunday to allow for the delivery of desperately needed aid to the country, on the eve of a humanitarian conference.
The Army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has since April 15 been battling paramilitary forces commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, after the two fell out in a bitter power struggle.
Multiple truces have been agreed and broken in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people and driven over two million from their homes, including at least 5,28,000 who fled abroad.
The latest ceasefire came into force at 6:00 am (0930 a.m. IST), with the mediators saying the two sides had agreed to refrain from attacks and allow freedom of movement and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and 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 Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
Witnesses in Khartoum said the situation was "calm".
"We want a full ceasefire," Sami Omar, who lives in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, told AFP.
The 29th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP29), held at Baku in Azerbaijan, is arguably the most important of the United Nations’ climate conferences. It was supposed to conclude on November 22, after nearly 11 days of negotiations and the whole purpose was for the world to take a collective step forward in addressing rising carbon emissions.