Warring Sudanese factions agree to three-day ceasefire with some Americans still trapped, US officials say
Warring factions in Sudan have reportedly agreed to a three-day ceasefire – starting at midnight on April 24 – that could allow much-needed supplies to filter into the country while allowing Americans still in the country to escape.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the opposing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was the result of “intense negotiation over the past 48 hours.”
If the deal holds, it will be the first successful truce between the two sides — they’ve agreed to a number of armistices in the past week-and-a-half, but all broke down.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Blinken said, adding that the US will help create a committee to oversee negotiations to permanently end the hostilities.
US officials have said several times that they’re not evacuating Americans because conditions on the ground are too dangerous.
But on Monday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US government is “actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan,” possibly through overland convoys.
Sullivan added that President Joe Biden has requested “every conceivable option” to help the remaining Americans in the war-torn East African country.
“Right now, we believe that the best way for us to help facilitate people’s departure is in fact to support this land evacuation route, as well as work with allies and partners who are working on their own evacuation plans as well,” Sullivan said at a White House briefing, according to CNN.
Many of the 16,000 or so American citizens who are still there don’t want to leave, Blinken said.
But those that do should shelter in place until the US can rescue them, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We need to find a safe way to get them out,” Warner said, adding that the US is working with other countries, including China, to evacuate the Americans.
Late Saturday, US forces conducted a daring evacuation that emptied the American embassy in Khartoum as the nation’s violence continues to spiral out of control.
The fighting, which is between rival factions of the country’s military government, has already killed more than 420 people and injured more than 3,700.
Members of SEAL Team 6, the legendary group responsible for killing Osama Bin Laden more than a decade ago, joined Army Special Forces units to see the evacuation through, according to USA Today.
They removed at least 70 American staffers and brought them to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia, two US officials familiar with the mission said.
The embassy has been shuttered indefinitely. It remains unclear when it might reopen.
