Sudan’s warring military factions agreed on Tuesday in principle to a seven-day ceasefire from today, Thursday, May 4, 2023, to 11th May 2023, in a statement released by the foreign ministry of neighboring South Sudan.
According to the statement in which South Sudan offered to mediate in the conflict, President Salva Kiir stressed the importance of a longer truce and named envoys for peace talks, to which both sides had agreed.
The credibility of the reported May 4–11 ceasefire deal between Sudanese Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo was unclear, given the rampant violations that undermined previous agreements running from 24 to 72 hours.
Sudan’s conflict has driven over 1 million people to flee across its borders, and it is now causing a humanitarian crisis, according to UN authorities earlier on Tuesday.
The conflict risks escalating into a larger calamity as Sudan’s impoverished neighbors deal with a refugee crisis and fighting impedes humanitarian delivery in the country, where two-thirds of the population already depends on outside help.
At least 550 people have been killed and 4,926 wounded, according to Wednesday’s latest health ministry figures, which are likely to be incomplete.