Accessibility links

Breaking News

Sudan Begins 24-Hour Cease-Fire


Smoke billows behind buildings amid ongoing fighting in Khartoum on June 9, 2023.
Smoke billows behind buildings amid ongoing fighting in Khartoum on June 9, 2023.

The two warring factions in Sudan entered into a cease-fire 6 a.m. Saturday, local time.

There are apprehensions that the 24-hour deal will collapse before it ends; a number of other truces have already failed.

U.S. and Saudi mediators have warned they may pull out of mediation efforts if Saturday’s cease-fire collapses.

"A one-day truce is much less than we aspire for," Khartoum North resident Mahmud Bashir told Agence France-Presse. "We look forward to an end to this damned war."

The hourslong deal opens the opportunity for humanitarian assistance.

Fighting erupted in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, and surrounding locations, in mid-April, between two rival generals – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan from Sudan’s army and Burhan's former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Da, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has also spread elsewhere.

Close to 2,000 people have been killed in the fighting, while nearly 2 million have been displaced.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG