Senior Sudanese Armed Forces General Yasser al-Atta has stated that Sudan will not observe a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan unless the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group withdraws from civilian residences and areas.
This declaration comes after the United Nations Security Council’s appeal for a Ramadan truce, which is set to begin this week.
The RSF has indicated its acceptance of the truce request. Al-Atta’s statement, conveyed through the army’s official Telegram channel on Sunday, highlighted recent military progress made by the army in Omdurman, a region within Sudan’s capital.
The statement emphasised that a Ramadan truce would only be possible if the RSF adhered to a commitment made during mediated talks in Jeddah last May, wherein they pledged to withdraw from civilian residences and public areas.
Additionally, it asserted that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti and the leader of the RSF, should not have a role in Sudan’s future political or military affairs.
This declaration comes in response to the United Nations Security Council’s plea for a pause in the 11-month-long conflict during Ramadan, which is anticipated to commence either on Monday or Tuesday, contingent upon the sighting of the crescent moon.
Fourteen out of the fifteen countries on the council supported the resolution put forward by the United Kingdom on Friday, with only Russia abstaining from the vote.
The resolution urged “all parties to the conflict to seek a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue.”
The conflict, which began in mid-April 2023, involves fighting between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF.
Since the onset of the conflict, tens of thousands of individuals have lost their lives, while 8.3 million have been forcibly displaced.
According to the UN, nearly 25 million people, equivalent to half of Sudan’s population, require humanitarian assistance.
Throughout much of the conflict, the army has found itself in a defensive position militarily. Initially, the RSF seized significant portions of the capital, Khartoum, in the early days of the fighting.
Following the adoption of the UK-drafted resolution by the UNSC on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the warring sides to observe a truce.
However, there is uncertainty surrounding the mechanism for implementing the resolution. Sudan’s UN ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, informed the council on Thursday that the president of the country’s transitional council commended Guterres’s truce appeal but expressed concerns about the “implementation process.”
The RSF welcomed the truce call in a statement on Saturday, expressing readiness to participate in discussions on establishing mutually agreed-upon monitoring mechanisms.
They emphasized the importance of “these mechanisms for ensuring the effective implementation of the ceasefire and achieving the humanitarian objectives outlined in the resolution”.
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