ANKARA – The United States has evacuated embassy staff and their families from Sudan’s capital Khartoum, where ongoing clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have claimed hundreds of lives.
“On my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum,” Anadolu Agency reported President Joe Biden saying in a statement today.
The RSF confirmed in a tweet that it had coordinated with a US military mission consisting of six aircraft “for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning.”
Biden thanked American diplomats and troops for their efforts in Sudan, and said he was “receiving regular reports… on their ongoing work to assist Americans in Sudan, to the extent possible.”
“This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It’s unconscionable and it must stop,” he said.
“The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan.”
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has “temporarily suspended” operations at its embassy in Khartoum.
American forces “safely evacuated all US personnel and their dependents under our security responsibility,” he said.
French flee country, with fellow Europeans in tow
Meanwhile, France has also started evacuating its embassy staff and citizens from the country, its Foreign Ministry said today.
“The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Armed Forces are coordinating a rapid evacuation operation of our diplomatic personnel and nationals in Sudan,” the ministry said, reported Sputnik.
The operation also includes citizens of France’s “European and allied partners” as well as European diplomatic personnel, the statement read.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia said it had started arranging the evacuation of its citizens and nationals of “brotherly and friendly” countries from Sudan, while Sweden flagged plans to send a military detachment to the Northeast African nation to evacuate its citizens and diplomatic corps. Turkiye is set to evacuate its nationals today, the country’s embassy in Khartoum said.
Fighting erupts as truce falls through
Yesterday, a 72-hour truce agreed by the Sudanese army and the RSF fell through, with fighting erupting in Khartoum and several other areas, including the nearby cities of Bahri and Omdurman.
The US’ Blinken in his statement today urged both sides to “urgently extend and expand the (Aidilfitri) ceasefire to a sustainable cessation of hostilities to prevent further damage to the Sudanese nation.”
“We remind both belligerents of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations related to the protection of civilians,” he said.
Now in the second week, the deadly power struggle between the Sudanese army and the RSF has killed more than 400 people, with over 3,500 others injured, according to United Nations figures. – Bernama, April 23, 2023
