The United States and African nations are racing to secure an extension of a ceasefire in Sudan, with the Sudanese army saying it has given an initial nod to an African proposal calling for talks even as heavy fighting continues.
Hundreds of people have been killed in almost two weeks of conflict between the army and a rival paramilitary force – the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – which are locked in a power struggle that threatens to destabilise the wider region.
An RSF statement accused the army of attacking its forces on Thursday and spreading “false rumours”, making no reference to the proposal the army said came from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an African regional bloc.
The sound of air strikes and anti-aircraft fire could be heard in Khartoum and the nearby cities of Omdurman and Bahri, witnesses and Reuters journalists said.
The existing three-day ceasefire brought a lull in fighting, without completely halting it, but is due to expire at midnight (2200 GMT).
Many foreign nationals remain stuck in Sudan despite an exodus marking one of the largest such evacuations since the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
Sudanese civilians, who have been struggling to find food, water and fuel, continued to flee Khartoum on Thursday.
The army late on Wednesday said its leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had given initial approval to the plan to extend the truce for another 72 hours and to send an army envoy to the South Sudan capital, Juba, for talks.
The military said the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti worked on a proposal that included extending the truce and talks between the two forces.
“Burhan thanked the IGAD and expressed an initial approval to that,” the army statement said.
Reuters could not immediately reach an IGAD representative for comment.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat discussed working together to create a sustainable end to the fighting, the State Department said on Wednesday.
At least 512 people have been killed and almost 4200 wounded by the fighting since April 15.
The crisis has sent growing numbers of refugees across Sudan’s borders.
The UN refugee agency has estimated 270,000 people could flee into South Sudan and Chad alone.
Thousands of people, mainly Sudanese, have been waiting at the border to cross into Egypt, Sudan’s neighbour to the north.
France said on Thursday it had evacuated more people from Sudan, including French nationals, Britons, Americans, Canadians, Ethiopians, Dutch, Italians and Swedes.
Britain said it might not be able to continue evacuating its nationals when the ceasefire ends and they should try to reach British flights out of Sudan immediately.
The conflict has destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in the vast nation where a third of the 46 million people were already reliant on humanitarian aid.
An estimated 50,000 acutely malnourished children have had treatment disrupted due to the conflict, and those hospitals still functioning face shortages of medical supplies, power and water, according to a UN update on Wednesday.
Sudan Doctors’ Union said 60 out of 86 hospitals in conflict zones had stopped operating.
Tension had been building for months between Sudan’s army and the RSF, which together toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup.
The friction was brought to a head by an internationally-backed plan to launch a new transition towards elections and a government led by civilian parties.
A final deal was due to be signed earlier in April, on the fourth anniversary of the overthrow of long-ruling Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising.
-Reuters
