A ceasefire came into effect on Saturday morning in Sudan where residents of Khartoum are taking advantage of a rare respite to get supplies or flee the capital, which has been plagued for almost two months by an armed conflict which has led to a serious crisis. humanitarian.
The camps of the two warring generals have agreed to a 24-hour truce, starting at 6:00 a.m. Khartoum time, the Saudi mediator announced on Friday, which has hosted negotiations between the belligerents for weeks.
Several hours after its entry into force, residents of different districts of the Sudanese capital told theFrance Media Agency that they had heard neither bombardments nor clashes. And many took the opportunity to venture into the streets, usually too dangerous because of the fighting.
Mohamad Radwan, who lives in a southern neighborhood, went shopping. “The truce is a chance for us to go buy food after having to ration our food,” he told theFrance Media Agency. While previous truces were generally violated as soon as they came into effect, he said he wanted to wait “four hours” before leaving his house, to be sure that it held.
“Since the start of the war, this is the first time that all these hours have passed without hearing the sound of arms. Today was completely different,” says Hamed Ibrahim, who lives in eastern Khartoum.
“Total calm” also in the twin city of Omdurman, according to a resident, Othman Hamed. Hajar Youssef, who lives in the same town, says she went looking for a pharmacy. “My mother has diabetes and needs insulin. But I couldn’t find any open,” she says.
Others seek to flee the city. “The number of people wanting to leave today for Madani, Gedaref, Sennar or Kosti [des villes situées plus au sud, NDLR] increased a lot, maybe even doubled”, compared to other days, says Ali Issa, who works at a bus station in Khartoum.
This is yet another ceasefire in the war that began on April 15 between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdane’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR). Daglo.
The parties pledged to cease violence across the country to allow “the arrival of humanitarian aid”, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
The general command of the armed forces, however, declared that it reserves the “right to respond to any violation that the rebels may commit”.
“Immense needs”
“We reiterate our full commitment to the ceasefire,” said the paramilitaries.
The war has already claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the organization ACLED, which specializes in collecting information in conflict zones, as well as two million displaced persons and refugees according to the United Nations (UN).
In the combat zones, which take place mainly in the capital Khartoum and the vast region of Darfur (west), the NGOs continue to warn of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.
“In Khartoum, we estimate that only 20% of health establishments are still functioning,” said Friday the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Alfonso Verdu Perez, during a press conference in Geneva.
“In recent weeks, we have managed to deliver surgical equipment to ten hospitals” in the capital, “but the needs are immense and there is still a lot to do,” he added.
“If the parties do not respect the 24-hour ceasefire, the mediators should consider adjourning the Jeddah talks,” warned the Saudi and American mediators who have been overseeing negotiations for weeks in Saudi Arabia between rival camps. .
Riyadh said last week that it was seeking with the Americans to “continue discussions” to reach an “effective” ceasefire, after negotiations were officially suspended.
On the diplomatic level, the Sudanese government this week declared persona non grata the UN envoy to Sudan, the German Volker Perthes, accusing him of taking sides in the conflict.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, on Friday deemed this decision “contrary” to the principles of the United Nations and “not applicable”, noting that its status was “unchanged”.