• Earlier, the RSF accused the SAF of violating the humanitarian truce.
• RSF said it managed to shoot down a SAF military plane, but the SAF spokesman's office could not be reached to comment on the claim.
Sudan's Health Ministry on Tuesday announced that more than 550 people have been killed in the three weeks of fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as the two warring factions agreed to a 7-day ceasefire starting Thursday.
A total of "550 deaths and 4,926 injuries were recorded in all hospitals in Sudanese states," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the situation was calm in all states except for Khartoum and Central Darfur. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), on Tuesday agreed on a seven-day ceasefire mediated by neighboring South Sudan.
Pauline Adhong Malok, the spokesperson for South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a media briefing in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that the ceasefire, which was negotiated by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, will start Thursday to pave the way for peace talks between warring factions headed by the two generals.
"The government of the Republic of South Sudan has obtained the consent of the two parties to the current conflict in Sudan to name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice," Malok said.
She added that Kiir, during a telephone conversation with the two warring Sudanese generals, stressed the need for a longer ceasefire and speedy solution to the conflict that broke out in mid-April.
Kiir is the leader of a team of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Assembly of the Heads of State that is negotiating for an end to armed conflict in Sudan.
Earlier, the RSF accused the SAF of violating the humanitarian truce.
In a statement on Tuesday, the RSF said it managed to shoot down a SAF military plane, but the SAF spokesman's office could not be reached to comment on the claim.
Meanwhile, the Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance (FFC), a civilian political coalition in Sudan, on Tuesday called on the Sudanese people to stage demonstrations demanding the end of the conflict.
"Today (Tuesday), the alliance called for large-scale protests at the areas which are not affected by the conflict to push for negotiations and stoppage of the war," tweeted Yassir Arman, the FFC's spokesman.
"We, in villages and cities which are not affected by the war, must come out in masses to push for negotiations and stoppage of the war," said Arman.
The Sudanese police forces on Tuesday carried out widespread campaigns in Khartoum to combat crimes, blocking the roads to prevent criminals and outlaws from committing illegal activities.
"This step comes as part of the plan of the police force's command which aims to impose prestige of the state and the rule of law," the press office of the Sudanese police said in a statement.
"The campaign tends to secure markets, important commercial sites and vital facilities," it said.
Currently in its third week, the conflict in Sudan, which is concentrated in the capital of Khartoum, has triggered a mass exodus of civilians to neighboring countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan.
In addition, foreign countries have evacuated their citizens from Sudan even as the United Nations warns of a looming humanitarian crisis amid a lack of food, clean water, and medicine among civilians trapped in the conflict.