The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a ceasefire which is due to expire Monday, as weeks of fighting reached a stalemate in the capital and elsewhere in the African country, The Associated Press reported.
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the US and the Saudis.
However, the ceasefire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.
In a joint statement early on Sunday, the US and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce which expires at 9:45 p.m. local time Monday.
“While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” the statement said, according to AP.
The statement also urged Sudan’s military government and the RSF to continue negotiations to reach an agreement on extending the ceasefire.
In a separate statement, the US and Saudi Arabia accused both the military and the RSF of violating the ceasefire, saying that such violations “significantly impeded delivery of humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services.”
The battles in Sudan erupted in Khartoum on April 15, after disagreements emerged between Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF's Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo over how Sudan should be run.
They both held top positions in Sudan's current military government, formed after the 2019 coup that ousted long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.
They were to merge their forces, but the RSF resisted the change, mobilizing its troops which escalated into full-scale fighting.
The conflict has displaced almost 1.1 million people internally and into neighboring countries. Some 705 people have been killed and at least 5,287 injured, according to the World Health Organization.