A unilateral ceasefire declared by the head of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is due to come into effect today for the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, which starts on Wednesday.
The pause in the conflict with the Sudanese army was announced in an audio recording broadcast on Al Arabiya television by the leader of the RSF, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
He said it would be in force on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Gen Hemedti also condemned abuses carried out against civilians – including those perpetrated by his own forces.
The RSF has been accused of being behind violations in Darfur.
Thousands killed, millions displaced
Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the RSF since mid-April in a conflict that has killed at least 2,000 civilians and wounded many more.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates the conflict has displaced almost two million people internally, and more than 600,000 have fled to neighbouring countries.
A record 25 million people – more than half the country’s population – are in need of aid and protection, according to the United Nations, which said it has received only a fraction of the necessary funding.
The capital, Khartoum, and el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfut state, have been the worst affected by the war, though tensions and clashes escalated last week in other parts of Darfur and in Kordofan in the south.
Several failed ceasefire initiatives have been announced since the conflict broke out on April 15, with the warring parties accusing each other of violating the agreements.
In recent days, fighting has intensified after a series of ceasefire deals agreed at talks led by the United States and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah failed to stick.
Ugandans take France’s TotalEnergies to court
As Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid Ul Ulha, a group of Ugandans have started a lawsuit in Paris against the French oil giant, TotalEnergies, over two huge extraction projects in their country.
They allege human rights violations and want reparations for the denial of access to their lands.
TotalEnergies is leading a consortium that is drilling hundreds of exploratory wells and building a 1,500km (932 mile)-long oil pipeline that will cross several nature reserves in Uganda.
Meanwhile, British police have arrested 27 climate change activists protesting against the Ugandan projects who daubed paint on TotalEnergies’ London headquarters.
