CAIRO, May 5. /TASS/. Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a three-day ceasefire, the Al Hadath TV channel reported.
According to the media outlet, the parties to the conflict in Sudan have agreed to declare another ceasefire for 72 hours.
A spokesman for the Sudanese armed forces said that, "the situation is stable throughout the country, with the exception of certain districts of the capital city, Khartoum."
The Al Arabiya TV channel reported that armed clashes between the army and RSF units had been reported near Khartoum International Airport and in some areas on the eastern outskirts of the capital on Friday morning.
Earlier, the Sudanese army and the RSF had agreed in principle to declare a week-long ceasefire on May 4. However, an RSF spokesman said a little later that the forces "have not yet agreed to the ceasefire." Still, in his words, the RSF "does not reject a ceasefire in principle and appreciates all initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict in the country." A day earlier, the country’s army agreed to comply with a long-term ceasefire but the rival paramilitary force made no such statements.
The situation in Sudan escalated amid disagreements between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), who is al-Burhan’s deputy on the council. The main points of contention between the two military organizations pertain to the timeline and methods for unifying the armed forces of Sudan, as well as who should be appointed as commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which is al-Burhan’s preferred option, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists. On April 15, armed clashes between the rival military factions erupted near a military base in Merowe and in the capital, Khartoum. According to the Sudanese Health Ministry, over 600 people have been killed since the conflict broke out.