Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Meets Sudan’s Burhan, Discusses Russian Paramilitaries

In this handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 23, 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R) speaks with President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) during their meeting at Shannon Airport, in Shannon, western Ireland. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 23, 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R) speaks with President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) during their meeting at Shannon Airport, in Shannon, western Ireland. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Meets Sudan’s Burhan, Discusses Russian Paramilitaries

In this handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 23, 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R) speaks with President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) during their meeting at Shannon Airport, in Shannon, western Ireland. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 23, 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R) speaks with President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) during their meeting at Shannon Airport, in Shannon, western Ireland. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he held an impromptu meeting in Ireland's Shannon airport with the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and that they discussed Russia-funded armed groups.

"We discussed our common security challenges, namely the activities of illegal armed groups financed by Russia," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

He thanked Sudan, which is currently in the midst of a deadly civil war, for its support of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Russia's Wagner mercenary group has operated in Ukraine throughout Moscow's invasion. Western diplomats and media have said the group is also present in Sudan, although Wagner denied this.



Heavy Israeli Strikes Shake Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Heavy Israeli Strikes Shake Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Strong explosions in Beirut's southern suburbs began near midnight and continued into Sunday after Israel's military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh.

Photos and video showed the blasts illuminating the southern suburbs, and sparking flashes of red and white visible from several kilometers away. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel's military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed

from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.

The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Rafik Hariri International Airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar. Social media reports claimed that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company Khaled Kaddouha.

Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah claimed in a statement that it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.”

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that Israel had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in its ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has not released death tolls.

Israel says it stepped up its assault on Hezbollah to enable the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last Oct. 8.

Israeli authorities said on Saturday that nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far.