Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - The 72-hour truce established on April 21 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries to mark the end of Ramadan should expire tonight, April 27. However, the fighting has never stopped in several areas of the country. According to the Ministry of Health, the deaths recorded in these two weeks of guerrilla warfare, with heavy gunfire and airstrikes, is more than 500 and wounded more than 4,000.
The local press reports that the President of South Sudan and member of the Commission of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in the Horn of Africa (IGAD), Salva Kiir Mayardit, announced that the two parties have agreed to extend the truce for another 72 hours and that two delegates from the army and the RSF will discuss a possible permanent truce in Juba. The army has issued a statement in which it says it accepts the proposal, but rules out a face-to-face meeting between Burhan and Hemedti, respectively heads of the SAF and RSF.
The evacuation of civilians, foreigners and Sudanese to neighboring countries continues. More than 10,000 people have crossed into northern Egypt from Sudan in the past five days, according to the authorities in Cairo. An estimated 20,000 entered Chad via routes leading further west. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a ship has arrived from Port Sudan with some 4,000 people of different nationalities.
One of the critical problems is the escape of prisoners from prisons. According to experts, 20,000 prisoners have escaped, including many dangerous criminals and senior leaders of the former dictatorial regime. In addition, humanitarian organizations have suspended aid operations following the fighting, which has sparked unprecedented shelling and shooting in the capital, home to more than five million people, and serious unrest in western Darfur. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 27/4/2023)
