Sudan’s paramilitary force agrees to U.S. proposal for humanitarian ceasefire | CBC News

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a proposal from the United States and Arab powers for a humanitarian ceasefire and is open to talks on a cessation of hostilities, it said on Thursday in a statement.

Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have agreed to various ceasefire proposals during their 2½-year-long war, though none have succeeded. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said it was working toward ending fighting in Sudan.

The announcement, which the Sudanese army did not immediately respond to, comes more than a week after the group seized the famine-stricken city of El Fasher, which has been under siege for more than 18 months. It was also the last Sudanese military stronghold in the western Darfur region.

“The Rapid Support Forces also looks forward to implementing the agreement and immediately commencing discussions on the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities and the fundamental principles guiding the political process in Sudan,” an RSF statement said.

Earlier this week, the army-led Security and Defense Council met but did not give a definitive answer to the proposal, though influential leaders and allies within the army have expressed their disapproval.

A Sudan military official told The Associated Press that the army welcomes the proposal but will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas and gives up weapons as per previous peace proposals. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter

Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser for African affairs, said the U.S. was working with the Sudanese army and RSF to bring about a humanitarian truce and could have an announcement “soon.”

“We were working on this for the last almost 10 days with both sides, hoping to finalize the details,” Boulos told AP in an interview on Monday. The U.S.-led plan would start with a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process, he said.

Thousands killed, millions displaced: WHO

The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising. 

The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the WHO, and displaced 12 million. However, aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher. Over 24 million people are also facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.

Humanitarian organizations have long labeled Sudan as having one of the most alarming displacement crises in the world. Most recently, more people were displaced after El Fasher was overtaken by the RSF following a series of attacks by the group that ran rampant in the city.

Witnesses say the RSF killed and abducted civilians during and after its capture of El Fasher, including in summary executions, leading to international concern.

Last week, the U.N. human rights office estimated that hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters may have been executed during RSF’s capture of El Fasher. Such killings are considered war crimes.

Several eyewitnesses told global medical charity Doctors Without Borders that a group of 500 civilians and soldiers from the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied groups tried to flee on October 26, but most were killed or captured by the RSF and its allies.

“Survivors report individuals being separated by gender, age, or perceived ethnic identity, and many who remain held for ransom, with sums ranging from 5 million to 30 million Sudanese pounds ($11,000 to $70,000 Cdn),” MSF said in a statement last week.

Reuters has verified at least three videos posted on social media showing men in RSF uniforms shooting unarmed captives and a dozen more showing clusters of bodies after apparent shootings.

A high-level RSF commander called the accounts “media exaggeration” by the army and its allied fighters “to cover up for their defeat and loss of El Fasher.”

The RSF’s leadership had ordered investigations into any violations by RSF individuals and several had been arrested, he said, adding that the RSF had helped people leave the city and called on aid organizations to assist those who remained.

He said soldiers and fighters pretending to be civilians had been taken away for interrogation. “There were no killings as has been claimed,” the commander told Reuters in response to a request for comment.

A ‘man-made’ famine

The nonprofit Islamic Relief warned in a statement Thursday that community kitchens that provide a lifeline to many families are at risk of collapse. A new survey by the group found that 83 per cent of families in east and west Sudan are now without enough food.

El-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur, is one of two regions hit by famine, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitoring group, said Monday. The other is the town of Kadugli in South Kordofan province.

“We have to confirm that the main reason behind this famine is that it’s man-made. We’re not talking about natural disasters because there is ongoing conflict, insecurity, the inability to access food and the lack of humanitarian corridors that ensures people in much need obtain food,” said AbdulHakim Elwaer, regional representative for Near East and North Africa.

Elwaer told The Associated Press on Thursday during a video call that there were talks for almost two years about making it easier for aid to reach communities in need through opening safe humanitarian corridors.

“I’m optimistic that by the end of the year we’ll reach a solution and there has to be a solution because we can’t allow millions of people to die of hunger because aid is not reaching them,” he said.