Khartoum, May 2(Darfur24) The government of South Sudan announced, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, that the commander of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, “Hamedti,” agreed “in principle” on a new truce of 7 days, starting Thursday, May 4.
The republic of South Sudan also announced that the two warring parties have named their representatives to engage in negotiations.
A statement by the South Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the conflicting parties in Sudan “agreed to calm down,” based on the intervention and request of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who called on the parties to the conflict in Sudan to start peace talks “as soon as possible.”
The statement stated that the new truce begins next Thursday night, to expire by May 11, while the government of South Sudan made it clear that “the conflicting parties in Sudan must choose the venue for the peace negotiations.”
It is not yet clear how coherent this agreement between Al-Burhan and Hamidti is, given the breach of previous agreements to cease-fire for periods between 24 and 72 hours, as more air strikes and gunfire in the Khartoum area disrupted the latest short-term truce.
Sudan is witnessing a bloody conflict for about two weeks between the army forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and a number of states in Darfur, causing the death of about 5,700 people and the flight of thousands to neighboring countries, in light of a catastrophic humanitarian situation, according to the United Nations.