Mediated by the United States
Three-day ceasefire in Sudan came into force – Bundeswehr takes over coordination of the rescue flights
Soldiers of the Sudanese Army
© AFP
In Sudan, the guns are supposed to be silent for the time being – but are the parties to the conflict sticking to it? While Western countries continue to evacuate foreigners, tens of thousands of Sudanese have already fled to neighboring countries.
A new ceasefire between the conflicting parties in Sudan came into force on Tuesday, mediated by the United States. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that after “intensive negotiations” the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF militia had agreed on a three-day nationwide ceasefire from midnight. Both the army and the RSF militia confirmed their approval of the agreement.
There were initially no reports of major skirmishes during the night, but due to recent experiences there was skepticism as to whether the ceasefire would really hold. The UN Security Council wants to discuss the situation in Sudan again in an emergency meeting – according to diplomatic circles, probably in a public round on Tuesday evening around 9:00 p.m. (CEST).
Blinken called on both sides to comply with the ceasefire “immediately and completely”. The United States also wanted to work for a “permanent end to the fighting,” said the Secretary of State. To this end, Washington will coordinate with “regional and international partners” as well as civilian representatives in Sudan to support the establishment of a committee to negotiate an end to the violence. Basically, the goal is for a civilian government to take power again in the north-east African country, Blinken emphasized.
The army said on the online network Facebook that it would abide by the ceasefire if the RSF militia did the same. The RSF militia, for its part, tweeted that the ceasefire aims to set up humanitarian corridors – both for residents’ access “to vital resources, medical care and safe zones” and for further evacuations of diplomatic missions in the country.
Several ceasefires in Sudan have already been broken
According to the UN, more than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting between the army and the RSF militia that has been going on for ten days. Several agreed ceasefires were broken. In large parts of the country there is a lack of water, electricity, food, medicine and fuel. Several evacuation missions are currently underway for foreign nationals, including those from Germany, and for numerous UN employees.
Since Saturday, more than 4,000 people have been brought to safety as part of the operations. The Bundeswehr also took part in the evacuations: since Sunday evening they have taken around 400 people from the north-east African country, including German embassy staff.
A fourth German evacuation flight followed on Monday, according to the Bundeswehr. The machine was therefore on the way from Khartoum to Jordan in the evening. The federal government initially did not provide information on the nationality of the inmates.
In the meantime, Germany has taken over the coordination of evacuation flights from France from the embattled Sudan. The Bundeswehr is now responsible for coordinating flight movements to the receiving airport, a spokesman for the Bundeswehr Operations Command said on Tuesday night to the German Press Agency in Berlin. The aim is to regulate flight times and practical operations at the military airfield near Khartoum, which is used by western countries.
The Bundeswehr is planning further evacuation flights
The federal government is preparing further evacuation flights for the coming days. After the end of the ceasefire on Monday, however, these plans were initially fraught with uncertainties. “There are still other Germans on site,” said Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). However, it is “more than uncertain” whether the security situation will allow further evacuations in the next few days.
For the Sudanese, however, the situation in the embattled country remains precarious. Tens of thousands have already fled to neighboring Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, according to the UN Emergency Relief Office.
Meanwhile, the US has expressed concern that the Russian Wagner mercenary group could exacerbate the conflict in Sudan. “We are very concerned about the deployment of the Prigozhin Group – the Wagner Group – in Sudan,” said Foreign Minister Blinken, referring to the founder and head of the mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wherever the Wagner group appears, they bring “more death and destruction,” said Blinken. The Russian mercenary force not only fights in support of the Russian army in its war of aggression against Ukraine, but is also active on the African continent. According to media reports, Wagner has already delivered weapons to the RSF militia.