Sudan's army chief Burhan receives calls from Arab and U.S. officials amid Eid truce efforts

Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan received separate phone calls on Thursday from the United States, Saudi and Qatari foreign ministers, also from the Turkish president and the Egyptian intelligence chief, an army statement reported.

The calls come amid efforts to get both the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to agree to a three-day ceasefire across the Muslim Eid that starts on Friday. All parties, including calls from the U.N. secretary general and South Sudan and Ethiopia leaders, affirmed the necessity to stop the violence and resort to dialogue.