Sudan: The United States and Saudi Arabia have announced that warring factions in Sudan have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire following talks in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The agreement comes as fighting that has killed hundreds and displaced more than a million enters its sixth week. The ceasefire agreement was signed late on May 20.

According to the joint statement from the sponsors of the talks, the agreement will take effect at 9:45 PM local time on May 22.

Numerous previous ceasefire agreements were violated. However, this agreement will be enforced by a US-Saudi and international-supported monitoring mechanism, the statement said without providing details.

The agreement further calls for distributing humanitarian assistance, restoring essential services, and withdrawing forces from hospitals and essential public facilities.

“It is past time to silence the guns and allow unhindered humanitarian access. I implore both sides to uphold this agreement. The eyes of the world are watching,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted.

The fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has plunged the country into chaos. Stocks of food, cash, and essentials are rapidly dwindling, and mass looting has hit banks, embassies, aid warehouses, and even churches.

The conflict, which began on April 15, has killed at least 705 people and wounded at least 5,287, according to the World Health Organisation. Some 1.1 million people have been displaced internally and into neighbouring countries.

The war broke out in Khartoum after disputes over plans for the RSF to be integrated into the army under an internationally-backed deal to shift Sudan towards democracy following decades of conflict-ridden rule by former President Omar al-Bashir, who had appointed himself as leader of the country after staging a coup in 1989.

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