Sudan’s Warring Factions Announce Cease-fire, but Fighting Continues

Both of Sudan’s warring factions have declared a 72-hour truce for the Muslim holiday of Eid after nearly a week of fierce fighting, which has left more than 400 people dead and pushed tens of thousands of refugees to flee the country.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) first announced a ceasefire earlier on Friday yet clashes continued north of the capital. Its rival Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) later announced a three-day suspension of fighting.

Foreign officials and international organizations had been calling for a three-day pause in fighting, which would allow people to find food, evacuate safely, or gather with family for Eid, which marks the end of the Islamic holdy month of Ramadan.

The fighting broke out last Saturday as SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is Sudan’s military ruler, and RSF Commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo vie for control of the country

But it remains unclear if the agreement will hold after several previous ceasefires between the warring generals repeatedly broke down, with both sides trading blame for violating the terms.

The fighting has led to 413 deaths and 3,551 injuries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and one US citizen has also been killed amid the violence, the US State Department confirmed to CNN on Friday.

Speaking at a United Nations briefing in Geneva on Friday, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said that so far at least nine children were killed and at least 50 injured, adding that the number of child casualties “will continue to rise as long as fighting continues.”

Eyewitnesses that CNN has spoken with said fierce fighting raged in Khartoum North, an area north of the capital, on Friday.

The violence has also hampered the work of humanitarian and aid groups.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that it has been forced to suspend its humanitarian operations in Sudan, after a staff member died when the vehicle he was traveling in with his family on Friday morning was caught in a crossfire between warring parties in the southern Sudanese city of El-Obeid.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has been unable to deliver aid to civilians in Sudan because of a lack of security guarantees due to the recent fighting and violence, according to a press release.