APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has urged the warring sides in Sudan to observe a ceasefire over the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary group (the RSF) are locked in a bitter power struggle for the past six days, leaving over 400 people killed including civilians.
The escalating situation has been the subject of an urgent ministerial meeting on Thursday as called by the AUC Chair and attended by top officials of the UN, IGAD, Arab League, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
The participants called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for Eid el Fitr, says the AUC chief.
It will help “to address the immediate urgent needs of the population caught in the crossfire of the continued and unacceptable violence currently underway,” he added.
The violence has caused widespread suffering, with Sudanese people stranded in their homes unable to access adequate food and clean water.
The leader of RFS was quoted as saying that he has no objection to a ceasefire over Eid although hostilities still rage in the capital Khartoum and has been spreading to other cities.
His comment comes after two consecutive days of failed humanitarian ceasefires.
Sudan has been run by a council of generals, led by the leader of the army and the head of the RSF since the 2021 coup.
MG/as/APA