Riyadh: The announcement by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to extend the current ceasefire for an additional 72 hours was welcomed by members of the so-called Trilateral Mechanism and the Quad on Friday, and they called for its full implementation. 

In a joint statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, the two parties said, "We also welcome their readiness to engage in dialogue towards establishing a more durable cessation of hostilities and ensuring unhindered humanitarian access." The US State Department also issued the statement.

 The African Union communique from April 20 was endorsed by the League of Arab States, the European Union, the Troika, and other bilateral partners. "This initial phase of diplomacy to establish a process to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements will contribute to action on development of a de-escalation plan," the statement read.

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The African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the United Nations make up the Trilateral Mechanism. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the US make up the Quad.

The joint statement is made in the midst of reports of ongoing violence in the western region of Darfur and the capital Khartoum despite the cease-fire agreements.

Since fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces under Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo began on April 15, at least 512 civilians and combatants have died.

According to the most recent count, a further 4,200 people had been injured.

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Tens of thousands of people have left the destitute nation of North Africa. Since the Kingdom's evacuation effort got under way on April 24, 2,744 people—including 119 Saudis and citizens of 76 other nations—have been transported from Sudan to Saudi Arabia.

The largest evacuation, consisting of 1,687 people from 58 different nationalities being transported from Port Sudan, took place on April 26.

Al-Burhan and Dagalo are currently engaged in a power struggle that could destabilise the region after they overthrew an internationally recognised civilian government in a coup in October 2021.

The previous three-day cease-fire, which was set to expire on Thursday night, has been extended by three days through Sunday, the army announced on Wednesday. The military reiterated on Thursday that it would uphold the cease-fire unilaterally and that it would extend it.

For the first time, the RSF responded by announcing on Thursday that it had also approved a new 72-hour truce beginning on Friday.

The army claimed to be in control of the majority of Sudan's regions and to be thwarting a significant RSF deployment in Khartoum, where some residential areas had devolved into active combat zones.

Despite a temporary lull in fighting since the first 72-hour cease-fire began, witnesses and Reuters journalists reported hearing airstrikes and anti-aircraft fire on Thursday in the capital and the nearby cities of Omdurman and Bahri.

Fighting has now reached the vast Darfur region, where tensions have been building ever since a civil war broke out there 20 years ago.

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At least 52 people were reportedly killed in attacks by well-armed "militias" on El Geneina's residential neighbourhoods, main hospital, main market, government buildings and a number of shelters for internally displaced people, according to the Darfur Bar Association, a rights organisation.

According to a local who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, militiamen from nomadic Arab tribes entered El Geneina as a result of recent fighting between the RSF and army. Armed members of the Masalit tribe confronted them, and battles broke out throughout the city.