Sudan’s warring factions have agreed a 72-hour ceasefire to take effect on Tuesday as Western, Arab and Asian countries scramble to remove their citizens from the country.
This is the situation on Tuesday, April 25, 2023:
To fight
- Sudan’s warring factions have agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire to take effect on Tuesday.
- However, according to local reports, fighting has broken out in Geneina in West Darfur between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Sudan was on “the brink of collapse” and that violence “could engulf the entire region and beyond”.
- Egypt’s foreign ministry said the deputy administrative attache at his embassy was killed during the fighting in Khartoum “while driving to the embassy to follow the procedures of evacuation of Egyptians stranded in Sudan.”
Civilians and victims
- At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured, according to UN agencies.
- Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and foreigners, have fled to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan in recent days.
- The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries launched emergency missions to bring their embassy staff and Sudanese citizens to safety by road, air and sea.
- According to the UN, there are acute shortages of food, clean water, medicines and fuel, and limited communications and electricity. Prices are skyrocketing.
Diplomacy
- The Sudanese military and RSF have agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire “after intense negotiations,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said shortly before the midnight ceasefire (Monday 22:00 GMT) came into effect .
- “This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing civilians and residents access to essential resources, healthcare and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions,” the RSF tweeted.
- Blinken said the US would work with regional, international and Sudanese civil interests to establish a committee to oversee work for a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been evacuated during a “long and intense weekend” of airlift missions by France, Germany and other countries.
- The UN Security Council is planning a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.
- Several countries – including Canada, France, Poland, Switzerland and the US – have halted embassy activities until further notice.
- The UN Secretary-General urged the 15 members of the Security Council to use their influence to put Sudan back on the path of democratic transition.