The leaders of the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire from May 4 to May 11. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of neighboring South Sudan on Tuesday. The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, has been mediating between the two parties to the conflict for a few days as a representative of the Northeast African regional association IGAD, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia in addition to the two countries.

In Sudan, which has a population of around 46 million, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is using the armed forces to fight his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the RSF. The two generals had taken over the leadership of Sudan through joint military coups. Because of questions of the distribution of power, however, there was a rift between the two camps.

Al-Burhan and Daglo have agreed to name representatives for negotiations to take place in South Sudan's capital Juba. A date for the start of negotiations has yet to be set, South Sudan's Foreign Ministry said. The rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation makes it imperative to de-escalate the conflict, it said.

UN: At least 334,000 internally displaced persons

Since the beginning of the conflict on 15 April, ceasefires of up to 72 hours have been negotiated repeatedly. However, these were broken again and again. In fact, a real ceasefire was not observed by either side. On Tuesday, eyewitnesses reported new air strikes in the capital Khartoum, according to the AFP news agency.

At the end of last week, the Ministry of Health reported around 530 dead and a good 4600 injured in the fighting. In the chaos of the battles, however, it is difficult for authorities to keep track of everything. They assume that the true figures are significantly higher. According to the UN Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 334,000 people in Sudan have become internally displaced since the outbreak of hostilities.

According to estimates by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 100,000 people have sought refuge in neighbouring countries of Sudan since the fighting began. The further development of the situation is not predictable, said a UNHCR spokeswoman. The charity estimates that more than 800,000 people could flee Sudan if the war continues.