The Sudanese paramilitary group that has been battling Sudan’s military for more than two years said on Thursday that it had agreed to a truce in a war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or R.S.F., is accused of committing atrocities against civilians. It said in a statement that it had accepted a cease-fire proposal by a group of mediators led by the United States. The R.S.F. said it wanted “to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war,” deliver aid and work toward peace.
But there was no indication of whether Sudan’s military, which recently suffered a major battlefield loss, had agreed to the truce. Earlier this week Sudanese military leaders effectively spurned the peace proposal, indicating that they would agree to it only if the R.S.F. laid down its arms.
In a statement on Thursday, the military reiterated its commitment to defeating the paramilitary group through force.
The R.S.F. appeared to be reacting to mounting international pressure over the atrocities committed by its troops who captured El Fasher, the last city that had been outside the group’s control in the western Darfur region. A stream of verified images and witness accounts have pointed to an unfolding massacre there.
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