Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said on Thursday it had accepted a U.S.- and Arab-backed proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire and expressed willingness to join talks aimed at ending more than two years of war with the Sudanese army.
The announcement marks one of the most significant openings in months for potential peace efforts in a conflict that has devastated the northeast African nation, killing tens of thousands, displacing millions, and plunging vast regions into famine.
In a statement, the RSF said it “looks forward to implementing the agreement” and to “immediately commencing discussions on the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities and the fundamental principles guiding the political process in Sudan.”
The Sudanese army did not immediately comment on the proposal. Earlier this week, the army-led Security and Defense Council met to consider the ceasefire plan but stopped short of endorsing it. Several influential figures aligned with the military reportedly opposed the deal.
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A U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed that Washington continues to work with both sides to secure a humanitarian truce, calling on them to “move forward in response to the U.S.-led effort to conclude a humanitarian truce, given the immediate urgency of de-escalating the violence and ending the suffering of the Sudanese people.”
The United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt jointly proposed the initiative in September, urging a three-month humanitarian truce as a prelude to a permanent ceasefire and political negotiations.
The new offer comes amid intensified fighting in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where the RSF recently captured the famine-hit city of al-Fashir, consolidating its control over much of the area.
Witnesses and aid groups have accused RSF fighters of killing and abducting civilians during and after their takeover of al-Fashir, with reports of summary executions raising alarm among international observers.
RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, has urged his forces to protect civilians and warned that any violations “will be prosecuted.”
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, began when tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, once partners in a power-sharing transitional government, boiled over into full-scale war over plans to merge their forces.
According to the United Nations and humanitarian agencies, the fighting has killed tens of thousands, forced millions to flee their homes, and left vast swathes of Sudan on the brink of famine. The World Food Programme warns that more than 20 million people, nearly half the population, now face acute food insecurity.