A Sudanese rebel leader on Wednesday ordered a three-month extension of the unilateral cessation of hostilities in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
“As a goodwill gesture … to give the ongoing peace talks an opportunity for success, I, commander-in-chief of SPLM-N declare the extension of the unilateral cessation of hostilities for three months in all areas under the control of the SPLM/A-N,” the leader of the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement-North, Abdelaziz al-Hilu, said in a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj.
According to the order, the cessation of hostilities will remain in force until March 31.
Abdelaziz directed all the movement's army units to commit to the extension of cessation of hostilities starting on 1 January.
In October 2019, Sudan's new transitional government and rebel leaders started peace talks aimed at ending the country's civil wars. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir is hosting the talks in the capital Juba.
South Sudan achieved independence from Sudan in 2011, but the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan were left north of the border.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which had been part of the SPLM movement led by South Sudan President Salva Kiir, launched an insurgency against Khartoum in the two states that same year.