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The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan said it agreed to a proposal by the US for a ceasefire in Sudan after more than two years of fighting with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Al Jazeera reported.
The paramilitary group said in a statement on Thursday that it would accept a "humanitarian ceasefire" proposed by the US-led "quad" mediator group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, "to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians". There was no immediate comment from Sudan's military. Earlier this week, the US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said efforts were under way to reach a truce and that the warring sides had "agreed in principle," as per Al Jazeera. "We have not recorded any initial objection from either side. We are now focusing on the fine details," Boulos said on Monday, Al Jazeera reported, citing its sources. Earlier on Thursday, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had said his forces were "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, as per Al Jazeera. The announcement comes as the RSF faces accusations of committing mass killings since it seized the city of el-Fasher in North Darfur state on October 26, following an 18-month siege. The RSF now dominates the vast western Darfur region and parts of the country's south, while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and the Red Sea. More than 70,000 people have fled el-Fasher and surrounding areas since the RSF's takeover, according to the United Nations, with witnesses and human rights groups reporting cases of "summary executions", sexual violence and mass killings of civilians. The World Health Organization had reported the "tragic killing of more than 460 patients and medical staff" at a former children's hospital during the city's takeover. Both the warring sides have been accused of war crimes. In a September report, the UN Human Rights Council accused both sides of extrajudicial killing, large-scale attacks against civilians and torture. It also reported an "overwhelming volume" of evidence on sexual violence primarily perpetrated by RSF and SAF members, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)
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