Sudan crisis: Blinken says warring sides agree to 72-hour ceasefire

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Blinken said on Monday that an agreement had been reached between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after 48 hours of negotiations, the BBC reported.

Beginning from Monday midnight (local time), it is at least the third ceasefire to be announced since violence erupted this month. The previous two ceasefires have failed.

Both sides have independently announced their involvement in the ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the military conflict in Sudan could engulf the whole region and beyond.

"The violence must stop. It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond," he warned.

Sudan's health ministry said the deadly clashes have left more than 400 people dead and almost 4,000 wounded.

The violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF on April 15 in the capital city of Khartoum and other places.

This came after days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat.

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on October 25, 2021 and dissolved the sovereign council as well as the government.

On December 5, 2022, Sudan's military and civilian leaders signed a political framework agreement to end the political impasse and institute a two-year transitional civilian authority, but the two sides have so far failed to transform the agreement into a final deal.

They have agreed on most of the issues, with the exception of those relating to the reforms of the security and military forces, under which the RSF and other armed factions will be integrated into the Sudanese army.