Fitful start to 3-day truce in Sudan; rescue operations on

Cairo, April 25

Sudan’s warring generals pledged Tuesday to observe a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to pull Africa’s third-largest nation back from the abyss.

The claims were immediately undercut by the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital of Khartoum. Residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Several previous cease-fires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed, although intermittent lulls during the weekend’s major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

Late Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he had helped broker a new 72-hour cease-fire. The truce would be an extension of the nominal three-day holiday cease-fire.

The Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

“This cease-fire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions,” the RSF said in a statement.

The army announcement used similar language. — AP

‘Risk of biohazard’

• There is a “high risk of biological hazard” in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the WHO said
• One of the warring parties has seized a laboratory holding measles and cholera pathogens and other hazardous materials
• WHO’s Nima Saeed Abid said technicians were unable to access the laboratory to secure the materials

‘459 dead so far’

• At least 459 persons have been killed in Sudan fighting, a WHO official said
• Actual toll thought to be much higher, official said