Ahead of Monday Night’s Cease-Fire, UN Envoy Urges End to Sudan Conflict

Hours before Monday night’s cease-fire was set to begin, the UN envoy for Sudan urged the warring sides to put an end to the conflict.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Volker Perthes called the cease-fire a “welcome development” but noted that “fighting and troop movements have continued even today, despite a commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the cease-fire takes effect.”

The cease-fire is the seventh to be announced since April 15, when the conflict first broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

Unlike previous cease-fires, each of which was violated, this agreement is backed by a cross-party committee meant to track potential violations. The committee is made up of representatives from the US and Saudi Arabia, which brokered the deal, as well as each of the warring sides.

In his address to the UN Security Council, Perthes warned that the conflict is taking on an ethnic element, especially in the Darfur region, with tribal militias joining the fight.

He estimated that more than 700 had been killed so far in the conflict, in addition to more than 6,000 wounded and more than 1 million displaced.