Blinken says Sudan rivals agree to 72-hour ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire starting Tuesday, after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated.

"Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours," Blinken said in a statement two hours before the truce was to go into effect.

"During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," Blinken said.

Blinken said that the United States was also working with partners to set up a committee that would negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, where the conflict between rival generals descended into deadly violence 10 days ago.

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.

"This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions," the RSF paramilitary tweeted.

In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire."

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

"Thirty-five hours in a not-so-comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours' bombing and sitting under the shells," he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

• Sudan is burning; it's time to listen to its people