The Sudanese capital of Khartoum saw warplanes fly over the city and some artillery fire, but remained relatively calm on Tuesday morning in the first full day of a week-long ceasefire.
Blinken urged the opposing parties to abide by the truce
The ceasefire began on Monday night, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning Sudan’s rival generals on Tuesday to abide by the ceasefire or face possible sanctions.
The northeastern African country has been torn by violence for more than a month, after the leaders of two powerful groups – the army led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – began to fight for control of the country.
All previous ceasefires have been violated and more than 1 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes by the fighting. Thousands have died.
The US and Saudi Arabia mediated talks between the warring factions last week. The latest truce is intended to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid while civilians caught up in the fighting suffer violence.
US announces aid as Red Cross warns of refugee crisis
On Tuesday, the US announced $245 million (Є227 million) in humanitarian aid to Sudan.
“With this funding, our humanitarian partners can respond to new needs arising from the current conflict, which has displaced approximately 840,000 people within the country and forced another 250,000 to flee since April 15,” a press statement from US Secretary of State Blinken said. .
At the same time, the Red Cross warns of a looming risk of a humanitarian disaster in neighboring Chad.
Some 60,000 to 90,000 people have crossed into Chad, the UN Refugee Agency said earlier this week, with thousands gathering in camps in a border village called Borota.
People lived there without food or water until emergency aid workers brought basic supplies to them.
As the rainy season approaches, officials warn that evacuating that many people is a tall order as the village is set to be cut off from supplies once the rains begin.
rm/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP)
