Locals said artillery fire was heard in parts of Khartoum today, armored vehicles were patrolling and planes were flying, jeopardizing the week-long ceasefire that held out the best hopes for a cessation of hostilities between the two belligerents. Sudan.

Other residents reported relative calm early this morning, the first full day of the Saudi-US-supervised ceasefire aimed at delivering humanitarian aid.

A ceasefire negotiated in Jeddah raised hopes for a lull in a war that has forced nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, 250,000 of whom fled to neighboring countries, threatening to destabilize an already volatile region.

“Our only hope is that the ceasefire succeeds and we can return to our normal lives, feel safe and return to our work,” said Atef Salah El-Din, a 42-year-old resident of Khartoum.

While fighting has continued during previous ceasefire agreements, this is the first formal agreement since negotiations.

USA: “Remote” Surveillance Mechanism

The ceasefire agreement includes for the first time a monitoring mechanism with the participation of two opposing factions – the Sudanese armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, as well as representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United States, who brokered an agreement after talks in Jeddah.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the oversight mechanism would be “remote,” without elaborating.

“If the truce is broken, we will find out and hold accountable those who violated it, with the help of our sanctions and other tools at our disposal,” he said in a video message.

“The talks in Jeddah were focused on ending the violence and helping the Sudanese people. Much more will be needed to finally resolve this conflict,” he added.

Shortly before the ceasefire was due to go into effect, the Rapid Support Forces released an audio message from their commander, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hamedi, in which he thanked Saudi Arabia and the US but urged his men to march towards victory.

“We will not back down until we put an end to this coup,” he stressed.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters, AFP.}