Sudan's rival factions agree on 7-day ceasefire mediated by South Sudan

JUBA, May 3: Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), on Tuesday, agreed on a seven-day ceasefire mediated by neighboring South Sudan.

Pauline Adhong Malok, the spokesperson for South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a media briefing in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that the ceasefire, which was negotiated by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, will start Thursday to pave the way for peace talks between warring factions headed by the two generals.

"The government of the Republic of South Sudan has obtained the consent of the two parties to the current conflict in Sudan to name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice," Malok said.

She added that Kiir, during a telephone conversation with the two warring Sudanese generals, stressed the need for a longer ceasefire and speedy solution to the conflict that broke out in mid-April.

Kiir is the leader of a team of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Assembly of the Heads of State that is negotiating for an end to armed conflict in Sudan.

Currently in its third week, the conflict in Sudan, which is concentrated in the capital of Khartoum, has triggered a mass exodus of civilians to neighboring countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan.

In addition, foreign countries have evacuated their citizens from Sudan even as the United Nations warns of a looming humanitarian crisis amid a lack of food, clean water, and medicine among civilians trapped in the conflict.

The clashes between the SAF and the RSF have killed more than 500 people and left over 4,000 others wounded so far, according to Sudan's Ministry of Health.