UN envoy: Humanitarian deal between warring sides is a first step toward a cease-fire in Sudan

On Friday, Sudan’s warring generals agreed to protect civilians fleeing the conflict and humanitarian efforts.

Volker Perthes, the envoy, called the deal a crucial first step toward a cease-fire in the four-week-old conflict.

The Sudanese military and RSF paramilitary reached a contract late Thursday to reduce humanitarian suffering across the country, but a peace remains elusive.

Both sides agreed to avoid civilian-harming attacks. The U.N. health agency reports over 600 civilian deaths from the conflict.

“The most important element is that both sides commit to continue talks,” Perthes said during an online U.N. press conference from his office in Port Sudan. He noted that international attempts to implement the cease-fire have begun.

The pact, obtained by the Associated Press, vows to “facilitate humanitarian action in order to meet the needs of civilians.”

Saudi state television broadcast the US-Saudi contract signing event early Friday morning. The military and RSF didn’t immediately acknowledge Thursday’s accord.

It does not explain how ground soldiers will uphold humanitarian promises. Since April 15, both parties have broken many short cease-fires.

Sudan analyst and former prime minister aid Amjad Farid tweeted that the arrangement is unlikely to change the situation. Others shared skepticism.

“Composed of texts that are already in the international humanitarian law and treaties related to the treatment of civilians in times of war,” Farid wrote.

Khartoum residents reported rioting Friday morning despite the signing.

“I woke up to an airstrike (landing) nearby,” said east-capital resident Waleed Adam.

The violence has turned Khartoum into an urban battlefield and caused deadly ethnic clashes in western Darfur in recent weeks. At Friday’s news briefing, UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado stated 200,000 have fled the country.

Late Thursday, the State Department said Jeddah talks will focus on “an effective cease-fire of up to approximately 10 days.”

The U.N. and various rights groups have accused both sides—the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo—of human rights atrocities. The army bombed civilian areas indiscriminately, while the RSF looted, abused, and exploited civilian homes as barracks. Both blame each other for infractions.

Perthes, who has received death threats and requests to quit, said he will stay in Port Sudan and manage the humanitarian effort in the coastal city. He called his assailants “extremists” and claimed Sudanese people appreciate U.N. efforts.