Khartoum: One day into a 72-hour cease-fire between the country's warring generals intended to permit the delivery of desperately needed aid, an international donors' conference for Sudan was scheduled to begin in Geneva on Monday.
After a bitter power struggle between Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the army has been engaged in combat with paramilitary forces since April 15.
The war, which has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths and forced two million people from their homes, including at least 528,000 who fled abroad, has seen numerous truces agreed upon and broken.
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The most recent cease-fire went into effect at 6 a.m. on Sunday, according to the mediators, who also announced that both sides had agreed to forgo attacks and allow for freedom of movement and the distribution of aid.
The agreement of representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a nationwide cease-fire lasting 72 hours was announced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, according to the Saudi foreign ministry.
Khartoum witnesses described the situation as "calm." Sami Omar, a resident of Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, told AFP, "We want a complete cease-fire."
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"A truce is not enough to allow us to resume our lives. The RSF may stop fighting, but they will remain in the houses they currently occupy. While this was going on, the UN in Geneva was getting ready to host an international pledging conference for Sudan in collaboration with a number of state partners, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres scheduled to attend.
Donors should "announce financial commitments to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis and reiterate the need for the parties to the conflict in Sudan to adhere to their obligations under International Humanitarian Law," according to a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"To date, less than 16 percent of the $2.57 billion needed for this year's revised Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan has been raised, while only 17 percent of the $470 million Regional Refugee Response Plan is funded." Before both sides in the Sudanese conflict vowed to uphold the cease-fire on Saturday, fighting had escalated.
The army stated that despite its commitment to the cease-fire, it would "respond decisively to any violations by the rebels." The RSF stated that it would uphold the agreement.
Should the parties "fail to respect the 72-hour cease-fire," Saudi Arabia had threatened to postpone negotiations on its soil on Saturday. Additionally, the opposing generals dispatched envoys to the regional capitals. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, hosted Malik Agar, a former rebel leader who took Daglo's place as Burhan's deputy, on Sunday in Cairo. According to a citizens' support committee, warplanes struck residential areas of Khartoum on Saturday and "17 civilians, including five children," died. The figures could not be independently verified by AFP. The RSF claimed to have shot down a fighter jet and accused the army of launching attacks on residential areas.
The paramilitary forces posted a video online that showed demolished houses and what appeared to be dead bodies covered in blankets. A number of diplomatic missions in the capital have been attacked or looted, and the majority of them have stopped operating since the fighting started. On Sunday, Tunisia denounced the theft by "armed groups" from the ambassador's home in Khartoum. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reports that since fighting started, the number of fatalities in Sudan has surpassed 2,000. According to the UN, a record 25 million people, or more than half the population, rely on humanitarian aid today. The capital of the West Darfur state, El Geneina, has seen up to 1,100 fatalities as a result of intense fighting, according to the United States.
More beds and staff are urgently needed in Chad, where the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported more than 600 patients — the majority of whom had gunshot wounds — had already arrived. General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, the leader of Chad, went to the border town of Adre to gauge "the magnitude of the influx of refugees and ensure that the borders with Sudan are effectively closed," according to his office.
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Out of the roughly 2.2 million people displaced by the fighting, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that at least 149,000 have fled from Darfur into Chad. The RSF was "primarily" to blame for this week's atrocities in Darfur, according to the United States, which also described alleged rights violations as a "ominous reminder" of the area's previous genocide.
A rebel uprising in Darfur in 2003 sparked a war that lasted for years. As a result, then-strongman Omar Al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, whose actions sparked accusations of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity from around the world. The Janjaweed are the ancestors of the RSF.