RSF: Al Burhan’s truce is a unilateral step aimed at easing the military pressure

Senior sources within the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) denied the existence of any agreement or communication with the United Nations in regards to a temporary, week-long truce in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

 

In statements to (Erem News), the sources confirmed that talk of a temporary truce is a “unilateral step” by the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, stressing that any talk of a ceasefire must be presented within the framework of comprehensive peace arrangements to end the war throughout the country.

 

Sudanese media reported that Al-Burhan “agreed” to a week-long truce in El-Fasher, and that this came “at the request of the United Nations.” The claims were denied by sources within the Rapid Support Forces, who confirmed that there had been no communications from the United Nations.

 

Observers believe that the “truce” was proposed by Al-Burhan’s forces in an attempt to relieve the military pressure imposed by the Rapid Support Forces, which has imposed a tight siege on El-Fasher. Furthermore, its forces have advanced and controlled large areas of the city center, threatening the headquarters of the military division in Port Sudan.

 

Sudanese circles are surprised by Al-Burhan’s “acceptance” of a truce in El-Fasher, given that he has previously rejected several regional and international invitations as well as initiatives to take part in multiple truces, in an effort to halt the fighting around the city and allow the entry of humanitarian aid. This confirms that the Sudanese Army Commander’s initiative to request a ceasefire at this time is aimed at delaying the Rapid Support Forces’ inevitable control of El-Fasher.

 

El-Fasher is the last stronghold of the Sudanese Army and their allied armed militia in the Darfur region, in the western part of the country, where the Rapid Support Forces has managed to successfully seize control the remaining four states.

 

According to local sources who spoke to (Erem News), in recent months, El-Fasher has witnessed massive waves of civilian displacement, estimated at hundreds of thousands, to safe areas in the northern part of the state controlled by the Sudan Founding Alliance Forces, which have been able to set up camps as well as provide relief supplies and shelter.

 

The sources confirmed that only a few thousand civilians remain in the city, forcibly detained by the fighters affiliated with the Sudanese Army and its allied Armed Movements, in addition to the “mobilized” popular resistance brigades fighting alongside Al-Burhan’s forces.

 

For his part, Al-Basha Tibeaq, the Advisor to the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, believed that the goal of these statements regarding a temporary truce in El-Fasher is “Al-Burhan’s desperate attempt to provide his besieged militias with ammunition and food supplies.” He emphasized in a post on the (X) platform that this truce isn’t related to humanitarian work.

 

“The Sudan Founding Alliance Forces have been working for months to open safe corridors to ensure the evacuation of residents from El-Fasher, as Al-Burhan’s militias and Armed mercenary Movements are using them as human shields, in an effort to delay the liberation of the city,” according to Al-Basha Tibeaq.

 

He stressed the need for the United Nations and international organizations in the humanitarian field to communicate directly with the Sudan Founding Alliance Forces and the Sudanese agency affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces to coordinate on how to deliver aid to residents in safe areas outside El-Fasher, and to refrain from responding to calls for a “booby-trapped truce.”

 

The Armed Forces had relied primarily on airdrops by warplanes to supply their forces with military equipment and food in recent months. However, after the Rapid Support Forces acquired advanced anti-aircraft and drone defense systems, they were unable to fly over El-Fasher.

 

During his recent address to his forces, the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemedti,” pledged to provide humanitarian aid in the areas under his control in Darfur and Kordofan.