April 28 (UPI) — The warring sides in Sudan’s ongoing bloody conflict have agreed to extend their truce for 72 hours as fighting continues in the capital Khartoum.
The African nation has been submerged in turmoil since April 15 when fighting erupted between two factions of Sudan’s military — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary rival.
On Monday, they agreed to an internationally brokered cease-fire that has been punctuated by spouts of ongoing fighting, and both sides agreed Thursday to extend it another three days starting 12:01 a.m. Friday when their original agreement was set to expire.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the terms of the humanitarian truce, considering the circumstances of the Sudanese people and to facilitate the evacuation of diplomatic and foreign nationals,” the Rapid Support Forces said in a statement.
The Sudanese Armed Forces also issued a statement confirming the agreement while calling on the Rapid Support Forces to abide by the truce as the military blames the paramilitary force for cease-fire breaches over the last three days.
The conflict erupted as the African nation has for years tettered on the precipice of war or stability since the military ousted the country’s former three-decade dictator government of Omar al-Bashir in a civilian-backed coup in 2019.
As the country crawled toward a democracy Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudan Armed Forces and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo executed another coup but infighting over control of the government has turned into a bloody conflict.
More than 450 people have been killed and foreign nations have rushed to evacuate their diplomats and citizens amid the cease-fire while humanitarian organizations, and the United Nations, attempt to send in aid.
Meanwhile, the 55-member African Union is calling on the international community to “speedily” extend humanitarian support to civilians fleeing the country.
Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat in a statement requested neighboring nations “to facilitate the transit and safety of civilians crossing their borders without impediment.”
“The chairperson reiterates his appeal to the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately agree on a permanent cease-fire to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Sudanese in dire need.”
On Wednesday, Filippo Grandi, high commissioner for the United Nations office on refugees, said at least 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad while others have crossed into Egypt and at least 4,000 South Sudanese refugees have been forced to return home.