Sudan: Sudan’s warring sides have agreed to extend a shaky ceasefire in their struggle for power over the nation after two key international mediators signalled impatience with persistent truce violations.

The five-day extension of the ceasefire between Sudan’s military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was announced in a joint statement by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

“The extension will provide time for further humanitarian assistance, restoration of essential services, and discussion of a potential longer-term extension,” the statement added. The development came as both sides were under pressure to extend the shaky ceasefire, which was due to end.

In a joint statement, the United States and Saudi Arabia signalled impatience with persistent truce violations and called out Sudan’s military and the RSF for specific breaches of a week-long truce.

Sudan descended into chaos after fighting erupted in mid-April between the military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

According to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties, the fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more. The toll could be much higher, the medical group noted.

The conflict has turned the capital and other urban areas into battlefields, forcing nearly 1.4 million people to flee their homes to safer areas inside Sudan or cross into neighbouring countries.

The US and Saudi Arabia have been facilitating discussions between the military and the RSF in the Saudi city of Jeddah for several weeks. So far, there have been seven officially announced ceasefires, but each of them has been violated to some extent.

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