Sudan extends ceasefire with rebels until December 31

Sudan has extended a unilateral ceasefire with rebels fighting in three states to overthrow the government, the presidential palace said in a decree on Thursday.

The government has been fighting rebels in the state of Darfur in western Sudan since 2003, but the level of violence has been in decline for three years.

In South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, northern members of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) who had remained in the country after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 have kept up their fight against the president’s rule.

“President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has issued a presidential decision to extend the ceasefire in all fields of operations until December 31, 2018,” the presidential palace said in a statement.

REUTERS