Sudan's RSF paramilitary announces unilateral three-month humanitarian ceasefire
Sudan's paramilitary group announced on Monday that it was declaring a unilateral three-month humanitarian ceasefire, a day after its rival the regular army rejected an international ceasefire proposal.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 - 20:03
By: FRANCE 24
Sudan's paramilitary group announced on Monday that it was declaring a unilateral three-month humanitarian ceasefire, a day after its rival the regular army rejected an international ceasefire proposal.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 - 20:03
By: FRANCE 24
Sudanese who fled the town of El-Fasher after Sudanese paramilitary forces killed hundreds of people in the western region of Darfur gather at their camp in Tawila, Sudan on October 29, 2025. © Muhnnad Adam, AP
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group said on Monday it was declaring a unilateral three-month ceasefire, a day after its rival the regular army rejected an international ceasefire proposal.
"In response to international efforts, including the initiative of US President Donald Trump and the Quad mediators, we are announcing a humanitarian truce providing for a cessation of hostilities for three months," RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said in a recorded video address.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group said on Monday it was declaring a unilateral three-month ceasefire, a day after its rival the regular army rejected an international ceasefire proposal.
"In response to international efforts, including the initiative of US President Donald Trump and the Quad mediators, we are announcing a humanitarian truce providing for a cessation of hostilities for three months," RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said in a recorded video address.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Sudan army chief Burhan rejects latest US-backed truce plan as 'worst yet'
Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Sunday rejected a new truce proposal from US envoy Massad Boulos as the “worst yet”, accusing the Quad mediators of bias due to the UAE’s involvement. He said Boulos echoed Abu Dhabi’s positions, which the UAE denies amid allegations it arms the RSF.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24
The army chief said that with the UAE as a member, the Quad was "not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE's support for rebels against the Sudanese state".
Since war broke out between Burhan's forces and his former ally Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's RSF in April 2023, mediation efforts have failed to bring about a ceasefire, with both sides vying for a decisive military victory.
On Sunday, Burhan said the proposal received this month "eliminates the armed forces, dissolves security agencies, and keeps the militia where they are."
The RSF at the time said it agreed to the truce.
"If this is where the mediation is going, then we consider it biased, especially Massad Boulos who threatens us and speaks like he wants to impose things on us. We fear he could be an obstacle to the peace all of us Sudanese want," the army chief said.
Burhan's singling out of Boulos comes days after US President Donald Trump declared he would end the war, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to get involved.
The career soldier and de facto ruler of Sudan thanked both leaders on Sunday, welcoming the initiative as an "honest" one.
But he addressed mediators saying: "If you want a solution, come with a positive approach, come with a proper approach."
"This is a war for survival," he reiterated, insisting the only acceptable peace deal would include a total retreat of the RSF, who would be confined to specific areas.
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
The warring sides have shirked attempts at negotiation, with both believing they can win the war on the battlefield, according to analysts.
The army is currently on the back foot, after losing its last major stronghold in the Darfur region last month to the RSF. It currently holds the country's north, east and centre including the capital Khartoum, while the RSF controls the west and with its allies, parts of southern Kordofan.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Sunday rejected a new truce proposal from US envoy Massad Boulos as the “worst yet”, accusing the Quad mediators of bias due to the UAE’s involvement. He said Boulos echoed Abu Dhabi’s positions, which the UAE denies amid allegations it arms the RSF.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport Sept. 3, 2024. © Florence Lo, AP
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Sunday the latest truce proposal sent by US envoy Massad Boulos on behalf of a group of mediators was the "worst yet" and unacceptable to his government.
In a video address released by his office, he said the Quad, which in addition to the United States includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, was "biased" as long as Abu Dhabi was a member.
He accused Boulos of parroting talking points from Abu Dhabi, which has been widely accused of arming the RSF. The UAE denies the accusations.
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Sunday the latest truce proposal sent by US envoy Massad Boulos on behalf of a group of mediators was the "worst yet" and unacceptable to his government.
In a video address released by his office, he said the Quad, which in addition to the United States includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, was "biased" as long as Abu Dhabi was a member.
He accused Boulos of parroting talking points from Abu Dhabi, which has been widely accused of arming the RSF. The UAE denies the accusations.
Sudan's bloody war shows no sign of ending despite US, Arab push for truce
The army chief said that with the UAE as a member, the Quad was "not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE's support for rebels against the Sudanese state".
Since war broke out between Burhan's forces and his former ally Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's RSF in April 2023, mediation efforts have failed to bring about a ceasefire, with both sides vying for a decisive military victory.
On Sunday, Burhan said the proposal received this month "eliminates the armed forces, dissolves security agencies, and keeps the militia where they are."
The RSF at the time said it agreed to the truce.
"If this is where the mediation is going, then we consider it biased, especially Massad Boulos who threatens us and speaks like he wants to impose things on us. We fear he could be an obstacle to the peace all of us Sudanese want," the army chief said.
Burhan's singling out of Boulos comes days after US President Donald Trump declared he would end the war, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to get involved.
The career soldier and de facto ruler of Sudan thanked both leaders on Sunday, welcoming the initiative as an "honest" one.
Sudan aid delivery talks hailed as 'constructive' by UN humanitarian chief
But he addressed mediators saying: "If you want a solution, come with a positive approach, come with a proper approach."
"This is a war for survival," he reiterated, insisting the only acceptable peace deal would include a total retreat of the RSF, who would be confined to specific areas.
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
The warring sides have shirked attempts at negotiation, with both believing they can win the war on the battlefield, according to analysts.
The army is currently on the back foot, after losing its last major stronghold in the Darfur region last month to the RSF. It currently holds the country's north, east and centre including the capital Khartoum, while the RSF controls the west and with its allies, parts of southern Kordofan.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Al Dabbah (Sudan) (AFP) – Overwhelmed health workers rushed from patient to patient in makeshift tents in Sudan, trying to help even though they too had barely escaped the fall of El-Fasher to paramilitary forces.
Issued on: 24/11/2025 - RFI
Exhausted health workers have been treating patients in makeshift tents at Al-Dabbah camp in Sudan after fleeing El-Fasher © Ebrahim HAMID / AFP/File
"We're not in good shape," said Ikhlas Abdallah, a general practitioner who arrived from the western Darfur city now in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, which have been battling the Sudanese army since April 2023.
"But we have to be okay to provide care to those who need it," she told AFP.
She spoke from Al-Dabbah camp, located in army-held territory about 770 kilometres (480 miles) northeast of El-Fasher, which endured an 18-month siege before falling to the RSF last month.
"Psychologically, what can we do? Like all those displaced from El-Fasher, our feelings are indescribable."
At the camp, which is funded by a Sudanese businessman, hundreds of families sleep in nylon tents or on plastic mats laid across the sand.
In one patch of blue canvas shelters, some 60 doctors, nurses and pharmacists have assembled what passes for a clinic: a makeshift pharmacy, a rudimentary laboratory and tents used as short-stay wards.
Plastic chairs serve as examination tables. Ambulances borrowed from the nearby town of Al-Dabbah function as mobile clinics.
"We're not in good shape," said Ikhlas Abdallah, a general practitioner who arrived from the western Darfur city now in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, which have been battling the Sudanese army since April 2023.
"But we have to be okay to provide care to those who need it," she told AFP.
She spoke from Al-Dabbah camp, located in army-held territory about 770 kilometres (480 miles) northeast of El-Fasher, which endured an 18-month siege before falling to the RSF last month.
"Psychologically, what can we do? Like all those displaced from El-Fasher, our feelings are indescribable."
At the camp, which is funded by a Sudanese businessman, hundreds of families sleep in nylon tents or on plastic mats laid across the sand.
In one patch of blue canvas shelters, some 60 doctors, nurses and pharmacists have assembled what passes for a clinic: a makeshift pharmacy, a rudimentary laboratory and tents used as short-stay wards.
Plastic chairs serve as examination tables. Ambulances borrowed from the nearby town of Al-Dabbah function as mobile clinics.
Sudanese who fled El-Fasher fill jerrycans with water at the Al-Dabbah camp
© Ebrahim Hamid / AFP/File
Men carry buckets of water for the communal kitchens and improvised latrines while women stir massive pots over open flames. They serve the traditional Sudanese dish assida to families for free.
"We all come from the same place," said Elham Mohamed, a pharmacist who also fled El-Fasher.
"We understand them and they understand us," she told AFP.
Men carry buckets of water for the communal kitchens and improvised latrines while women stir massive pots over open flames. They serve the traditional Sudanese dish assida to families for free.
"We all come from the same place," said Elham Mohamed, a pharmacist who also fled El-Fasher.
"We understand them and they understand us," she told AFP.
'Death, captivity or ransom'
Every day, dozens of people arrive with respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, skin conditions and eye infections -- ailments that spread quickly in crowded conditions with little clean water.
"We are doing everything we can, but resources are scarce," said Ahmed al-Tegani, a volunteer doctor with the International Organization for Migration.
Some patients "require specialised care" that is not available in the camp, he told AFP.
Abdallah fled the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El-Fasher after the RSF overran the army's last stronghold in Darfur on October 26.
She said she arrived safely in Al-Dabbah "only because they (the RSF) did not know we were doctors".
To the paramilitary group, she said, identifying as medical personnel meant "death, captivity or ransom".
While escaping, she and her colleagues treated the wounded secretly, often without bandages.
A child is vaccinated against diphtheria at the Al-Dabbah camp for displaced people in Sudan © Ebrahim Hamid / AFP
"If the RSF discovered someone had received medical care, they beat them again," she said.
Throughout the two-year conflict, both warring sides have repeatedly and deliberately targeted doctors and hospitals.
The World Health Organization has documented 285 attacks on healthcare since the war began. They have killed at least 1,204 health workers and patients and wounded more than 400.
"If the RSF discovered someone had received medical care, they beat them again," she said.
Throughout the two-year conflict, both warring sides have repeatedly and deliberately targeted doctors and hospitals.
The World Health Organization has documented 285 attacks on healthcare since the war began. They have killed at least 1,204 health workers and patients and wounded more than 400.
'No one left to save'
Before fleeing, Abdallah spent weeks working around the clock in the maternity hospital. It was the last functioning medical facility in El-Fasher and suffered repeated attacks during the siege.
In October alone, the WHO reported four attacks on the hospital.
Abdallah remembers one night in October when a drone struck the building.
"I went home early that evening," she recalled, "and later I heard the sound of a drone. It fell on the hospital.
"When we rushed there, there was no one left to save."
"Bodies were unrecognisable. People were torn into pieces," she said.
"It didn't feel real. Horror like in the movies."
Two days after El-Fasher fell, an attack on the hospital killed 460 patients and staff, according to the WHO.
The city remains cut off from communications, with the RSF controlling access to Starlink satellite services.
For Abdallah, the journey to Al-Dabbah -- which involved checkpoints, arbitrary killings and rampant looting and sexual violence -- was "worse than inside El-Fasher".
A Sudanese girl who fled El-Fasher lines up with others to receive a free meal at the Al-Dabbah camp © Ebrahim HAMID / AFP/File
Most people "were beaten" and "more people died on the road than" in the city itself.
Sudan's conflict has already killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million, creating the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.
On a recent visit to displacement camps in Sudan, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the country faced enormous needs and highlighted the need to develop a stronger health system.
© 2025 AFP
Most people "were beaten" and "more people died on the road than" in the city itself.
Sudan's conflict has already killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million, creating the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.
On a recent visit to displacement camps in Sudan, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the country faced enormous needs and highlighted the need to develop a stronger health system.
© 2025 AFP
STILL GOING FOR THAT NOBLE
Trump pledges to end Sudan war, marking major shift in US stanceUS President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to intervene in Sudan’s brutal civil war after a request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marking a sharp shift for a conflict he admitted had been “not on my charts” until now.
Issued on: 20/11/2025
By: FRANCE 24
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on November 19, 2025. © Brendan Smialowski, AFP
US President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to end Sudan's grinding civil war at the request of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, condemning "tremendous atrocities" in a conflict he has previously overlooked.
Trump admitted that the devastating war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was "not on my charts" before Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed him to get involved.
But Trump said he would now work to "stabilise" the conflict with regional powers, notably including the United Arab Emirates, which denies accusations of backing the RSF with weapons and mercenaries.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for greater global attention to the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million since its outbreak in April 2023.
"His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump said at a business forum with the Saudi royal a day after Prince Mohammed received a lavish reception at the White House.
"It was not on my charts to be involved in, I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control. But I just see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we're going to start working on Sudan."
Sudan's Saudi-backed sovereign council, which is headed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said it was ready to cooperate with the United States and Riyadh.
In a statement, the council thanked Washington and Riyadh for "their continued efforts to stop Sudanese bloodshed."
International attention on the conflict has increased since the RSF recently seized the key Darfur city of El-Fasher after a relentless siege that has sparked warnings of crimes against humanity and genocide.
US President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to end Sudan's grinding civil war at the request of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, condemning "tremendous atrocities" in a conflict he has previously overlooked.
Trump admitted that the devastating war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was "not on my charts" before Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed him to get involved.
But Trump said he would now work to "stabilise" the conflict with regional powers, notably including the United Arab Emirates, which denies accusations of backing the RSF with weapons and mercenaries.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for greater global attention to the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million since its outbreak in April 2023.
"His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump said at a business forum with the Saudi royal a day after Prince Mohammed received a lavish reception at the White House.
"It was not on my charts to be involved in, I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control. But I just see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we're going to start working on Sudan."
Sudan's Saudi-backed sovereign council, which is headed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said it was ready to cooperate with the United States and Riyadh.
In a statement, the council thanked Washington and Riyadh for "their continued efforts to stop Sudanese bloodshed."
International attention on the conflict has increased since the RSF recently seized the key Darfur city of El-Fasher after a relentless siege that has sparked warnings of crimes against humanity and genocide.
Sudan is the 'epicentre of global suffering': UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher
'Immediate halt'
Trump had barely commented on the Sudan war in the nine months since he returned to office, focusing instead on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
But on Wednesday, the 79-year-old Republican said he would use the "influence of the presidency to bring an immediate halt" to the war.
"Tremendous atrocities are taking place in Sudan. It has become the most violent place on Earth," Trump said on his Truth Social network a few hours after his initial comments.
"We will work with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern partners to get these atrocities to end, while at the same time stabilising Sudan."
While the conflict has been off Trump's radar, Washington has stepped up efforts in recent months to resolve it.
UN rights council orders probe of atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher amid genocide warnings
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the UAE's foreign minister on Friday to urge Abu Dhabi to back a Sudan ceasefire.
Trump's own Africa envoy Massad Boulos on Saturday told AFP that the war in Sudan was the "world's biggest humanitarian crisis."
Trump repeatedly claims to have solved eight conflicts since returning to office in January as he seeks a Nobel Peace Prize.
His promise to start working on the Sudan conflict reflects his close ties with the de facto Saudi leader, whom he hosted at the White House for a lavish visit on Tuesday.
Their closeness was also underscored by his comments in the Oval Office on Tuesday, during which Trump defended the prince over the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the prince "knew nothing".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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