Sudan: Al-Burhan Agrees to One-Week Humanitarian Truce in El Fasher

Sudan Events – Agencies
The President of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, agreed on Friday to a one-week humanitarian truce in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, which is under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Al-Burhan received a phone call from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who requested the facilitation of aid access to thousands of civilians trapped in the locality of El Fasher.
According to a statement from the Sovereignty Council, Guterres welcomed the appointment of Kamal Idris as Prime Minister and affirmed the UN’s support for this step as part of completing the civilian transition.
Al-Burhan reaffirmed his commitment to forming a government composed of independent figures that would fully assume executive responsibilities. He also emphasized the necessity of implementing UN Security Council resolutions related to the situation.
Since last October, the RSF has besieged El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region, amid intermittent clashes between the army and allied Darfuri armed movements.
The UN Security Council has called on the RSF to comply with Resolution 2736, which demands lifting the siege on El Fasher, an immediate ceasefire, and de-escalation in the city and surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur warned of a worsening humanitarian situation in areas receiving hundreds of thousands of displaced people from El Fasher and the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps, especially with the onset of the rainy season.
Spokesperson Adam Regal told Asharq Al-Awsat that the humanitarian situation in El Fasher is “extremely dire,” with no clean drinking water or medical care, and displaced persons “dying slowly.” He added that dozens of people died in May alone.
The Coordination previously sounded the alarm over the appalling conditions faced by civilians in El Fasher and its camps, describing them as catastrophic.
It also noted that food prices are excessively high and beyond the financial reach of many of those besieged in El Fasher.
The Coordination renewed its call for all parties to the conflict to cease fire and open safe humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to those in need.
It also urged humanitarian organizations to intensify efforts to address what it described as the “bitterly tragic” conditions affecting residents of large communities in Jebel Marra, Tawila, and other parts of Darfur.
For months, the army has repelled over 200 attacks launched by the RSF to take control of the city, with RSF fighters penetrating several hundred meters into El Fasher and reaching residential neighborhoods in the city center, threatening the headquarters of the army’s 6th Infantry Division.
The city and surrounding IDP camps are suffering from severe shortages of food, clean water, and healthcare, prompting large numbers of residents to flee to Tawila, where they are in urgent need of food, medicine, drinking water, tents, and blankets.
Relief agencies operating in the region report that over 70% of El Fasher’s population needs humanitarian aid. They have also recorded deaths over the past three months due to hunger, thirst, and lack of medical care.
Meanwhile, the fourth meeting of the Advisory Group on Peace Initiatives in Sudan began on Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, bringing renewed international attention to the protracted conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which has entered its third year with no signs of a comprehensive political resolution in sight.
Ahead of the meeting, the Democratic Civilian Alliance of the Forces of the Revolution (Samood) reiterated that “there is no military solution to the conflict” and warned that its continuation poses an existential threat to Sudan’s unity and the security and stability of its Arab and African neighbors.
The meeting is attended by representatives from the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Arab League, as well as Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Egypt.