Extension Of Ceasefire In Sudan; Army Starts Campaign To Capture Khartoum

In the seventh day of the internal conflicts in Sudan, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, issued on a statement voicing his agreement to the extension of humanitarian ceasefire for 72 hours from six o’clock in Friday morning on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr (celebration of end of holy fasting month of Ramadan) as well as for creating human corridors to allow citizens from war zones.

However, despite the extension of the ceasefire, the confrontations and exchange of fire continue between Sudan’s Army and the RSF paramilitary group in Khartoum.

Amid the conflicts, the Army’s fighter jets carried out broaden air strikes on positions of the RSF militants in southern part of the capital city. According to local sources quoting officials of the Sudanese Army, the air strikes will be a prelude to the initiation of ground operation in Khartoum. In line with the objective, Sudan’s Army issued a statement, announcing the gathering and the deployment of thousands of armed, intelligence and reserved forces to conduct a new operation. The Army also declared that the operation has been put on agenda following a determining air strike on Friday morning.

The United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Pentagon, announced that prior to the potential withdrawal of staff from the US’s embassy in Khartoum, an American citizen was killed during the movement of the US forces in Sudan. Spokesperson for the United States Department of State Ned Price also confirmed the report, expressing condolences to the family of the American person. He refused to provide more information on the killing incident in Sudan.

The clashed in Sudan intensify as the local and Western sources have recently revealed that the RSF paramilitary group asked for military aid from Eritrea to be able to attack Kassala in eastern Sudan and in vicinity of Eritrean borderlines. The eastern city was captured by the Sudanese Army during fierce clashes between the Army and the RSF paramilitary group on April 16.

The Western media outlets claim that Commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA) General Khalifa Belqasim Haftar and a Russian paramilitary organization dubbed Wagner Private Military Company aid and abet the RSF paramilitary group, and that to this end they dispatched at least an airplane carrying military equipment for the group.

Moreover, it has been said that Egypt has sent its fighter jets and pilots to support the Sudanese Army in their fight against the RSF paramilitary group, but the Egyptian authorities have yet ruled out the allegation.

It is worth mentioning that the RSF paramilitary group handed over 27 Egyptian military personnel, who were arrested at the Merowe International Airport on April 19, to the Red Crescent. The Egyptian military forces were flown from Khartoum to Egypt’s capital city Cairo.

In general, all the foreign diplomatic efforts as well as appeals by Sudanese parties and politicians to stop the confrontations doomed to failure, and the United States’ brokered ceasefire has also turned into an opportunity for both warring sides to gather their forces for future battles and more bloodshed.

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), some 413 people lost their lives and 3551 others were injured from the onset of the conflicts in Sudan up to now; so, the increase of the number of people affected by the fierce battle would not be an appropriate sign for the upcoming days in the African country.

Read more: RSF Take Over Merowe Airport; Egypt Fighter Jets Destroyed!