Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful paramilitary group led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), has agreed to a U.S.-backed humanitarian ceasefire, marking the first sign of potential de-escalation after the fall of El-Fasher, a city devastated by famine and siege.
The RSF announced on Thursday that it accepted a truce proposal presented by the United States, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, saying the move was intended “to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war” and facilitate the urgent delivery of aid to millions trapped in conflict zones.
Sudan’s military-led government has not yet formally responded to the offer.
Eighteen Months of Siege and Starvation
The ceasefire announcement comes days after the RSF captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, following an 18-month siege that blocked food and medical supplies and left tens of thousands starving.
A UN-backed hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed that famine conditions had taken hold in the city before its fall. Aid groups described scenes of desperation as civilians resorted to eating animal feed and contaminated water to survive.
“We saw people murdered in front of us. We saw people being beaten. It was really terrible,” survivor Ezzeldin Hassan Musa told the BBC after fleeing to Tawila.
The UN’s refugee agency says more than 60,000 people have fled El-Fasher in recent weeks, most now living in makeshift camps without sanitation or steady food access.
The Ceasefire Proposal
The truce plan, first tabled in September, outlines a three-month humanitarian pause, followed by talks toward a permanent ceasefire and eventual transition to civilian rule.
While the RSF said it accepted the plan “in good faith,” Sudan’s Defence Minister Hassan Kabroun struck a defiant tone earlier this week, vowing to continue preparations for what he called “the people’s battle against the militia.”
“Our preparations for war are a legitimate national right,” Kabroun said in a televised speech.
Sudan’s chargé d’affaires in Nairobi, Mohamed Osman Akasha
