US urges Sudan warring sides to finalize truce

• Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced they have agreed to a humanitarian truce proposal put forward by the US, Egypt, UAE, and Saudi Arabia
• The announcement follows the RSF's capture of El-Fasher and comes as the army, led by Gen. al-Burhan, publicly vowed to continue fighting to defeat the "enemy."

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army for more than two years, announced on Thursday that they had agreed to a proposal for a humanitarian truce put forward by mediators.

The announcement follows the RSF's capture of the major city of El-Fasher, which dislodged the army from its last stronghold in the vast western Darfur region.

They have since been accused of mass killings, looting and sexual violence there, and have in recent days appeared to turn their focus to the neighbouring Kordofan region, where fierce battles are underway.

"In response to the aspirations and interests of the Sudanese people, the Rapid Support Forces affirms its agreement to enter into the humanitarian truce proposed by the Quad countries," the RSF said in a statement, referring to the United States, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The military-aligned government did not immediately comment on the RSF's announcement.

Earlier in the day, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had said his forces were still "striving for the defeat of the enemy".

"Soon, we will avenge those who have been killed and abused... in all the regions attacked by the rebels," he said, in a televised address.

The government had indicated earlier this week that it would press on with the war following an internal meeting on a ceasefire proposal.

The US State Department on Thursday called on both sides to finalise the truce, "given the immediate urgency of de-escalating the violence and ending the suffering of the Sudanese people".

A senior official from fellow mediator Saudi Arabia told AFP that the mediators' plan outlined a "three-month humanitarian truce in all Sudan".

During the ceasefire, efforts would be made to bring the RSF and army together for talks in Jeddah on a permanent peace deal, he added, without offering further details.

In its statement, the RSF said the ceasefire was needed "to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians", as well as to "ensure the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance".

The RSF have been accused of committing widespread atrocities after seizing El-Fasher following an 18-month siege.

Situation on the Ground 

The RSF now dominates Darfur and parts of the south, while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and Red Sea.

Fighting has recently spread to the central Kordofan region, where an attack on a funeral in the city of El-Obeid killed 40 people in recent days, according to the UN.

El-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan state, is a logistics and command hub that links Darfur to the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

The RSF claimed control of Bara, a North Kordofan city near El-Obeid, last week.

The conflict in Sudan, raging since April 2023, has pitted the forces of army chief Burhan against those of his former deputy, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

It has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions more and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis, according to the UN.