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.
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World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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