RSF agrees to 3-month ceasefire, Sudanese army rejects peace plan

• Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announce a three-month humanitarian ceasefire.
• The move follows US and Gulf-backed proposals for a temporary truce and peace talks.
• Sudan’s army rejects the ceasefire plan, criticizing UAE’s role as mediator.

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) declared on Monday that they would immediately enter a three-month humanitarian truce, following international pressure and proposals for a temporary ceasefire.

The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump said last week he would intervene to help end a war that has devastated the country and triggered widespread famine.

“In response to international efforts, chiefly that of His Excellency US President Donald Trump ... I announce a humanitarian ceasefire including a cessation of hostilities for three months,” General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF, said in a televised statement. “We hope the Quad countries will play their role in pushing the other side to engage with this step.”

Earlier this month, the Quad, comprising the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, proposed a plan for a three-month truce followed by peace talks. The RSF initially accepted the proposal, but later launched drone strikes against army-held areas.

Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, rejected the Quad’s plan on Sunday, criticizing the inclusion of the UAE, which has been accused of supplying arms to the RSF.

“No one in Sudan will accept the presence of these rebels or for them to be part of any solution in the future,” Burhan said.

The RSF has faced international condemnation for brutal attacks on civilians, particularly following its takeover of al-Fashir in late October, solidifying its control over Darfur. It has also intensified operations in the Kordofan region in an effort to expand its influence across Sudan. Both Dagalo and Burhan have been sanctioned by the United States over human rights abuses, and the RSF has faced accusations of genocide.

Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE’s minister of state for international cooperation, criticized the army’s refusal to cooperate. “In his rejection of the US Peace Plan for Sudan, and his repeated refusal to accept a ceasefire, he demonstrates consistently obstructive behavior,” she said.

The conflict, which began in April 2023 over disputes about integrating the RSF and the army, has killed tens of thousands of civilians and plunged Sudan into a severe famine, with ethnically-driven violence fueling the humanitarian disaster.