Sudan's army accepts El Fasher humanitarian truce proposed by UN

Response awaited from Rapid Support Forces, which has besieged the city in Darfur for a year

Women at Zamzam camp in El Fasher, in Sudan's North Darfur state. The area has been badly affected by famine and violence. AP

Sudan's armed forces commander Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has agreed to a UN proposal for a week-long truce in the besieged city of El Fasher, to allow the delivery of food and other humanitarian aid.

Gen Al Burhan conveyed his acceptance of the proposal during a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, according to an official Sudanese statement.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been locked in a war with the army since April 2023, has yet to publicly respond to the UN offer.

El Fasher in northern Darfur is held by the army but has been besieged by the RSF since May last year. Tens of thousands of the city's residents have fled to escape fighting and shelling by the RSF.

The city sits close to the large Zamzam camp for displaced people, among the worst areas affected by famine and violence in the vast Afro-Arab nation.

“We are making contacts with both sides with that objective, and that was the fundamental reason for that phone contact [with Gen Al Burhan]. We have a dramatic situation in El Fasher,” Mr Guterres said on Friday.

He said a humanitarian truce is needed for effective aid distribution, and must be agreed upon several days in advance to prepare for a large-scale delivery in the El Fasher area.

No details were revealed about the proposed truce, including when it could come into effect or how the aid will be delivered and distributed.

The war between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands and left more than 26 million people − more than half Sudan's population − facing acute hunger, with a growing number among them now suffering from famine.

It has also displaced about 14 million people, of whom about four million have found refuge across the border, mostly in Egypt, Chad, South Sudan and the Republic of Central Africa.

The RSF controls all of Darfur, except for El Fasher and parts of Kordofan province. The army holds the capital Khartoum and eastern, central and northern regions.

War erupted when months of tension between the RSF and the army over their future role in a democratic Sudan escalated into all-out violence. The fighting started in the greater Khartoum area, but later spread to western and central Sudan.