If the truce was not respected, it nevertheless made it possible to maintain the passage corridors secure for the evacuation of foreigners.
The ceasefire was due to end in the evening. The army and paramilitaries at war in Sudan announced on Sunday, April 30, the extension of 72 hours “under the mediation of the United States and Saudi Arabia” of the truce decided by the belligerents. Generally not respected, the latter nevertheless made it possible, for three days, to maintain secure passage corridors for the evacuation of foreigners and to continue negotiations.
The two sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, as fighting resumed on Sunday in the capital Khartoum, as well as in Darfur. The war, which is entering its third week, has left 528 dead and 4,599 injured, according to official figures, considered underestimated.
Millions of Sudanese have been trapped in bombardments and anti-aircraft fire since the outbreak on April 15 of a power struggle between the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and his number two, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A first humanitarian aid plane
Sunday, “eight tons” help, including “surgical equipment” arrived in Sudan, where most hospitals are out of service due to fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced. The machine, which also had humanitarian personnel on board, took off from Amman, Jordan, and landed in Port Sudan, a coastal city 850 km east of the capital. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced inside Sudan or fled to neighboring countries Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Foreign governments have evacuated their nationals and citizens of other nationalities, especially from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the other side of the Red Sea.
Despite calls from the international community, no diplomatic solution is in sight between the two rivals in fatigues, who continue to rail against each other through the media.