Sudan has been caught in a bloody war between the country's army and a militia, the rapid

support forces, for 16 months, with tens of millions of Sudanese civilians caught in between. This week the United States mediated peace talks in

Geneva. The RSF militia sent a delegation but at the last minute appeared to not officially

participate in the talks.

The Sudanese Armed Forces refused to attend altogether.

In the first of her reports from a rare trip inside the country with the support of the Pulitzer

Center, Special Correspondent Lela Molana Allen sat down with

Sudan's Vice President in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Five years ago, elated Sudanese young and old danced in the streets after

countrywide protests brought down Sudan's 30-year dictator and indicted

war criminal Omar al-Bashir. Democracy had arrived.

But just two years later, the Sudanese Army and a rehabilitated militia.

The rapid support forces united under army chief

Adelfata al-Braham and took power in what Sudanese civil society

calls a coup against the people.

Malik Agar is Sudan's vice president and deputy head of the military junta that's ruled the country since 2021.

A former insurgent leader, he's been a leading political and military figure for decades.

Before the explosion of the conflict last April,

RSF leader, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo,

widely known as Hemeti, was vice president. Agar succeeded him after the RSF broke away from

Sudan's army and began to fight against it. The war erupted seemingly without warning, taking most Sudanese by surprise in its speed and ferocity.

The news hour sat down with Vice President Agar to discuss the latest on the fighting and the prospects for peace.

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