The United Nations’s top diplomat in Sudan, Volker Perthes, has told the Security Council that the latest temporary ceasefire is holding only in some parts of the country, and that the army and RSF are each accusing the other of truce violations.
“However, we also hear continuing reports of fighting and movement of troops,” he told the council via a video briefing from the city of Port Sudan, where he and hundreds of U.N. staff have relocated from Khartoum, Voice of America reports.
“In Khartoum, fighting around the Republican Palace, Khartoum international airport, the army headquarters, RSF bases and other strategic locations has largely continued or, in some cases, intensified,” Perthes said. “Airstrikes and heavy shelling have also continued, particularly in Bahri and Omdurman.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Tuesday April 25, 2023 for the fighting between rival generals in Sudan to “stop immediately” and warned that it must not turn into a prolonged, full-scale war. He said the parties must respect the US-brokered, 72-hour ceasefire that started at midnight Monday. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces of General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo publicly pledged to uphold the halt in fighting.
Nine days of fighting has seen at least three cease-fire agreements announced. None were fully upheld.
At least 427 people have died across Sudan, with over 4,000 people injured as result of the conflict between army and the RSF, Perthes said.
Displacement due to fighting and dwindling basic commodities have been reported across the states of Khartoum, El Gezira, Sennar, White Nile, River Nile, and El Gedaref, according to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.