Rapid Support Forces, Sudan‘s paramilitary group, announced on Monday that it agreed to a unilateral three-month ceasefire proposed by the United States and three other mediators, as a new report from a humanitarian group alleged that the militia committed war crimes in the African nation’s Darfur region.
The RSF said it declared an active truce “in response to international efforts” led by President Donald Trump. The U.S. was joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates in peace talks between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Both sides have been fighting in Sudan’s third civil war since April 2023.
“We hope that the Quad countries will play their role in pushing the other side to engage with this step and with international efforts aiming to achieve the interests of the Sudanese people,” RSF Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the RSF agreed to the U.S. proposal of a humanitarian ceasefire. Sudan’s army, on the other hand, did not issue a definitive response to the proposal until this week.
The announcement came one day after top SAF Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan rejected the ceasefire proposal, citing bias due to the UAE’s involvement. Sudan has accused the mediator of arming the RSF, but the UAE denied the accusations.
On Monday, Abu Dhabi called out the Sudanese general for demonstrating “consistently obstructive behavior” in peace negotiations.
Burhan called the proposal, presented by a U.S. official, the “worst document yet” because it eliminates the military, dissolves security agencies, and maintains the RSF’s power without disarming the group. The army chief maintained that the only path to peace is to fully eradicate the RSF.
“I want everyone to know that any negotiations that do not lead to the elimination of this militia are invalid,” Burhan said on Sunday, later adding, “The militia is no longer welcome among Sudanese people, and I don’t think anyone believes it will have any future role in Sudan.”
The latest developments come after Trump said he would move to end the Sudanese civil war while meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week.
“We will work with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern partners to get these atrocities to end, while at the same time stabilizing Sudan,” he wrote on Truth Social, concluding the message with, “GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”
Burhan thanked the U.S. and Saudi Arabia for restating their commitment to ending the war but urged the four mediators to “come with a positive and proper approach” to the peace proposal.
Hours after the RSF announced the three-month ceasefire, human rights group Amnesty International released a report detailing the extent of the militia’s war crimes in the Darfur city of El Fasher.
After the RSF seized control of El Fasher in western Sudan late last month, the United Nations accused the paramilitary of committing mass killings and other atrocities. Amnesty said among the war crimes committed were executions of unarmed men and sexual violence against girls and women.
In compiling the report, Amnesty interviewed 28 survivors of the siege at El Fasher. One of them was a 34-year-old man named Khalil, who escaped the city on Oct. 27 but was intercepted by RSF militants. In the group of 20 men with whom he was traveling, 17 were killed. Khalil only survived because he played dead.
“The RSF were killing people as if they were flies,” he said. “It was a massacre. None of the people killed that I have seen were armed soldiers.”
SUDAN LEADER SCOFFS AT US CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL
The estimated death toll ranges from at least 2,500 civilians to possibly thousands more. The World Health Organization confirmed more than 460 patients and their companions were shot and killed at a hospital in El Fasher when RSF fighters stormed the building.
The RSF-led attack on the Darfur city widely attracted international attention, prompting the U.S. to lead the push in ending the conflict and, with it, the intentional targeting of civilians.