SW News: After two important international mediators expressed frustration with the ongoing truce violations, the warring parties in Sudan have agreed to extend the ceasefire in their struggle for control of the African nation.

Saudi Arabia and the United States announced the five-day extension of the ceasefire between Sudan's military and its opponent, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF, on Monday.

"The extension will give time for additional humanitarian aid, the restoration of essential services, and discussion of a potential longer-term extension," said the statement.

The change occurred as pressure mounted on both sides to maintain the ceasefire, which was set to expire on Monday. Residents had reported hearing street fighting in the north of the nearly five million-person capital Khartoum, as well as artillery fire in the south of the city, as calls to arms fueled concerns the crisis would worsen.

The RSF and Sudan's military were singled out for specific violations of a week-long truce in a joint statement released on Sunday by the United States and Saudi Arabia, two major foreign mediators.

After fighting broke out in mid-April between the military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Sudan fell into turmoil.

The Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, which keeps track of civilian casualties, estimates that the conflict has resulted in at least 866 civilian deaths and many more injuries. The medical association warned that the death toll might be far higher.

Nearly 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety either in Sudan or in neighboring nations as a result of the violence turning the capital and other metropolitan districts into battlegrounds.

Residential districts in Khartoum and its neighboring cities, Omdurman and North Khartoum, have suffered extensive damage as a result of the conflict. Residents said that their homes had been raided and looted. Many people expressed their disapproval of the home seizures and looting on social media.

Both sides blame each other for the violations. Additionally assaulted and plundered were offices of aid organizations, medical facilities, and other civilian infrastructure. Since the fighting started on April 15, many hospitals have become inaccessible.

Both sides agreed to halt the ongoing airstrikes, artillery fire, and street fighting a week ago in order to let desperately needed relief in and allow civilians to evacuate.

However, by the seventh day of the ceasefire, no humanitarian corridors had been established, and supplies had only slowly begun to arrive to restock the few hospitals in the capital that were still operating.