Sudanese army sends negotiators to Saudi to discuss humanitarian truce

KHARTOUM: The Sudanese Army said that it has sent negotiators to the Saudi port city of Jeddah to discuss the humanitarian truce as part of a Saudi-American initiative to end the conflict in the African country.

As part of the Saudi-American initiative, a delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces left for Jeddah to discuss the details relating to the truce, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement issued on Friday by the Sudanese army.

"This tends to secure and prepare the suitable circumstances to deal with the humanitarian aspects for our citizens under the current conditions," the statement added.

Earlier this week, both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend the truce for seven days.

The RSF has not officially confirmed that it had sent negotiators to Jeddah, though local media reports said so.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

According to UN statistics, thousands of Sudanese citizens have been displaced or forced to seek refuge in safe areas in Sudan and neighboring countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia and Chad.

So far, the deadly clashes have left 550 people dead and 4,926 others wounded, according to the Sudanese health ministry.