after several weeks of war, the belligerents agree to respect the humanitarian rules

The belligerents in Sudan signed, on the night of Thursday May 11 to Friday May 12, an agreement providing for the clearing of corridors to allow trapped civilians to leave the combat zones, while letting in humanitarian aid. This declaration of principle is contained in a four-page document, of which AFP was able to consult a copy, written after six days of negotiations in Saudi Arabia. The agreement, however, contains no mention of a truce or a ceasefire, after nearly a month of fighting that left more than 750 dead, 5,000 injured and more than 900,000 displaced and refugees.

The army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have accused each other, since April 15, of killing civilians. The former ensure that the latter, whose bases are scattered in densely populated neighborhoods of Khartoum, use the inhabitants as “human shields”. And the FSR denounce on their side the air raids of the regular army on the capital of more than five million inhabitants.

Twenty aid workers killed

However, they agreed to “create safe passages so that civilians can leave the combat zones towards the direction of their choice”. They also committed to “authorize and facilitate the rapid passage of humanitarian aid”as well as “the passage of humanitarian workers to and within the country”. At least 18 aid workers have been killed since the violence began while trying to help the population, and several convoys have been looted.

Negotiations between the two camps will also continue to reach a new temporary truce allowing the delivery of aid. The previous ones have never been respected.