A ONE-WEEK CEASEFIRE between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces officially went into force at 9.45pm this evening (7.45pm Irish time).

However, according to AFP, clashes could already be heard minutes after ceasefire started in the country’s capital, Khartoum.

Minutes after the ceasefire began witnesses reported air strikes and clashes.

They reported combat in north Khartoum, and air strikes in the east of the capital, after the Saudi and US-brokered ceasefire went into effect, the latest of multiple truces to have been announced and violated during five weeks of fighting.

Multiple truces have already been announced and breached during five weeks of fighting but the United States and Saudi Arabia, which brokered the deal, have said this one was “signed by the parties” and will be supported by a “ceasefire monitoring mechanism”.

There had been an absence of signals on the ground, however, that fighters intended to honour the truce as gunfire and explosions still rocked Khartoum today in the leadup to the humanitarian ceasefire.

“Fighter jets are bombing our neighbourhood,” Khartoum resident Mahmoud Salah el-Din told AFP.

Battles began on 15 April between the army, led by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

According to the seven-page agreement released by the US, warring sides were to use the two days before it takes effect Monday night to “inform their respective forces” about it and “instruct them to comply”.

But for the 37th consecutive day, residents of the capital reported hearing air strikes and anti-aircraft fire.

One witness told AFP that minutes after the ceasefire was set to begin, clashes could be heard again.

“Fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment by both sides not to pursue military advantage before the ceasefire takes effect,” Volker Perthes, the UN’s envoy to Sudan, told the United Nations Security Council.

While government forces control the skies they have few men on the ground in the centre of Khartoum, where RSF are on the streets.

“We have seen no sign that the Rapid Support Forces are preparing to withdraw from the streets,” said Salah el-Din, the Khartoum resident.

Around 1,000 people have been killed in five weeks of violence that have plunged the already poverty-stricken country deeper into humanitarian crisis.

More than one million have been uprooted, including in excess of 250,000 who have fled across Sudan’s borders, fuelling concerns for regional stability.

© AFP 2023