Sudan’s Al-Bashir extends ceasefire with rebels in three war zones

Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir Thursday has extended an unilateral ceasefire agreement with rebels in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions until the end of the year.

The presidential palace in Khartoum said in a statement that, “the ceasefire extension is a continuation of the state’s approach to uphold the values ​​of peace over war and in accordance with the national dialogue recommendations and to enable the armed persons to join the peace process and national reconciliation.”

Sudan extended in March a ceasefire with rebels in the three main conflict zones for three months, but the fighting quickly resumed.

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The Khartoum ceasefire agreement included Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

Three major armed movements in Darfur have been fighting since 2003 against the Sudanese government.

According to the United Nations figures, the conflict has killed some 300,000 people over the past seven years and displaced more than 2.5 million people.