Fighting halts in Sudan ahead of global conference

Sudan’s warring parties began a cease-fire Sunday morning after two months of fighting pushed the African nation into chaos. Residents in the capital, Khartoum, and its neighbouring city of Omdurman reported “relative calm” in the first hours of the ceasefire Sunday morning, after fierce clashes were reported the previous day

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The three-day truce came ahead of a pledging conference the U.N. and other nations will organise Monday to raise funds to cover Sudan’s humanitarian needs. The UN says it received less than 16 per cent of the USD 2.57 billion required to help those in need in Sudan in 2023. Another USD 470 million more are needed to support refugees in the Horn of Africa region, it said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia announced the ceasefire agreement Saturday. Both led concerted international diplomatic efforts to stop the war over the past two months. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement that the military and its rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, agreed to halt fighting and “refrain from seeking military advantage during the ceasefire.”