Sudan clashes continue despite ceasefire: Here’s what’s happening on the ground
Intense violence continues to rock Sudan a week after fighting first erupted between its army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force.
More than 400 people have been killed and at least 3,500 injured in the violence, according to the United Nations.
The capital city Khartoum remains at the epicentre of the conflict, with many of its residents still stuck in their homes without access to water or electricity amid air strikes, gunfire and shelling.
Ceasefire attempt fails
Clashes have been reported across the city, dashing hopes of a 72-hour ceasefire that the RSF had said it would adhere to in honour of the Muslim holiday, Eid al Fitr.
Residents reported hearing shootouts between paramilitaries and army forces on Friday morning after it emerged the military had deployed troops on foot in the capital for the first time in the week-long fight.
A video posted on the Sudan Armed Forces’ Facebook page shows armed soldiers advancing down a road in the capital to a cheering crowd.
Another clip filmed in the residential district of Bahri, North Khartoum, captures the sound of rapid gunfire just before 6am on Friday, which was when the ceasefire was supposed to begin.
Heavy fighting was reported in Khartoum on Friday afternoon. Another video, captured around 10 miles closer to the centre of Khartoum shows black smoke billowing from a building in the north of the city while a convoy of vehicles move down the road. It’s not clear whether these are the Sudanese army or RSF.
Attempts to seize infrastructure
Both videos were filmed in areas adjacent to Khartoum International Airport, which has been one of the city’s major battlegrounds.
The warring sides are attempting to seize key infrastructure sites and the airport is one of Khartoum’s most significant – for strategic and symbolic reasons. It’s been the subject of conflicting reports from the two parties, both of whom claimed as recently as Thursday to have a presence there.
Satellite images captured of the airport show how at least 13 aeroplanes, including a military transport plane, have been destroyed in the days since the fighting began.
Slide the marker below to see how the airport looked on Wednesday compared to in November last year.
Hospitals severely impacted
Sudan’s medical facilities have also been seriously affected by the violence. The Sudan Doctor’s Union has said 70% of hospitals in areas around the fighting across Sudan are now out of use.
Some have been damaged or destroyed in shelling, others have had to evacuate all patients due to fighting while others are suffering severe shortages in staff, medicine, food and power.
The map below shows just some of those affected in Khartoum.
These are just some of the medical facilities whose services have been severely disrupted or stopped altogether by the violence. Source: Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors’ Trade Union
The group described how three hospitals in the city of El Obeid in Darfur had been severely damaged by the fighting and urged international organisations to establish humanitarian corridors as soon as possible.
Damage to the British Hospital in El Obied on 20 April. Pic: Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors’ Trade Union
How did it begin?
The conflict began in earnest on 15 April, but the power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, who leads the armed forces, and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti) have been brewing for some time.
Both men had worked together to topple former leader Omar al Bashir in 2019 but are now at odds about how they think the country should be run. Al Burhan has since become Sudan’s de-facto head of state following a military coup in 2021 and has promised to oversee the country’s transfer to civilian rule.
At the core of this dispute is a disagreement over one of tenets of the agreed framework for how that transition will be made. It relates to how and when the RSF should be integrated into the military – Hemedti wants it to take 10 years while the army wants it to be completed within two.
In the days leading up to the eruption of violence, RSF troops had been deployed around the country in a move that al Burhan called illegal.
The fighting began last week on Saturday at a military base south of Khartoum, with both sides accusing the other of initiating the attacks.
Within hours, the Sudanese Army had employed its air force to drop bombs on RSF positions inside the capital – which has a population of 10 million.
It then quickly spread across Khartoum and to cities around the country including Merowe, Nyala and El Obeid.
Al Burhan addressed the nation on Friday, telling citizens that the fighting will soon be over and that he is committed to the transition to civilian rule.
Meanwhile, the RSF maintains its claims to have taken large areas across the country, including central Khartoum.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.
It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura
We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.
Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.
There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News
A woman was dismissive about the US president.
“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again
But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.
For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
World
Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says
Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.
In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.
The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.
GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.
“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”
Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.
Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”
The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.
The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.
Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’
GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.
Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.
It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.
Hamas has said it has “submitted its positive response” to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza to mediators.
The proposal for a 60-day ceasefire was presented by US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing hard for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal.
Mr Trump said Israel had agreed to his proposed ceasefire terms, and he urged Hamas to accept the deal as well.
Hamas’ “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defence Forces inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.
But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”
A woman cries after her son was killed while on his way to an aid distribution centre. Pic: AP/Jehad Alshrafi
Hamas said it is “fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework” without elaborating on what needed to be worked out in the proposal’s implementation.
The US said during the ceasefire it would “work with all parties to end the war”.
A Hamas official said on condition of anonymity that the truce could start as early as next week.
An Israeli army tank advances in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. Pic: AP/Leo Correa
But he added that talks were needed first to establish how many Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage and to specify the amount of humanitarian aid that will be allowed to enter Gaza during the ceasefire.
He said negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages would start on the first day of the truce.
Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the 60-day ceasefire would lead to a total end to the nearly 21-month-old war, which caused previous rounds of negotiations to fail as Mr Netanyahu has insisted that Israel would continue fighting in Gaza to ensure the destruction of Hamas.
The Hamas official said that Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.
Speaking to journalists on Air Force One, Mr Trump welcomed Hamas’s “positive spirit” to the proposal, adding that there could be a ceasefire deal by next week.
Palestinians dispersing away from tear gas fired at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Pic: AP
A girl mourns the loss of her father, who was killed while heading to an aid distribution hub. Pic: AP/Jehad Alshrafi
Hamas also said it wants more aid to flow through the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, which comes as the UN human rights officer said it recorded 613 Palestinians killed in Gaza within a month while trying to obtain aid.
Most of them were said to have been killed while trying to reach food distribution points by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said the agency was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings, but added that “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by GHF.
Read more:
The man in the room acting as backchannel for Hamas in negotiations with US
GHF reacts to claims US contractors fired at Palestinians
Deaths in Gaza rise significantly when GHF distributes aid
Palestinians carry aid packages near the GHF distribution centre in Khan Younis. Pic: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana
Ms Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were “GHF-related”, meaning at or near its distribution sites.
The GHF accused the UN of taking its casualty figures “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry” and of trying “to falsely smear our effort”, which echoed statements to Sky News by the executive director of GHF, Johnnie Moore.
Mr Moore called the UN figures a “disinformation campaign” that is “meant to shut down our efforts” in the Gaza Strip.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike