Africa

Sudanese army and FAR give “green light” to the evacuation of foreigners in the middle of the battle for Khartoum

Sudan – The leader of the Sudanese Army, Abdelfatah al Burhan, announced today that “in the next few hours” the evacuation of citizens of countries such as the United States, Great Britain, France and China by air from Khartoum will begin, after the paramilitary group Support Forces Rápido (FAR) announced a few hours ago that it would help the “partial” reopening of Sudanese airports to proceed with the evacuation of foreigners. The United States says there are no guarantees.

The outlook right now is completely unpredictable.

First, because it is unknown what each group controls in the capital, since both opposing parties claim to have control of the same facilities.

Second, because the shots and air strikes resound in Khartoum, because the opposing sides have not kept their promise to cease fire for three days, on the occasion of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, after a week of clashes.

In fact, the United States Embassy in Khartoum reported today that due to the insecurity situation in Khartoum and the closure of the international airport, it is currently not safe to carry out an evacuation, despite the fact that the Sudanese Army said shortly before the country American would proceed with the repatriation “in a few hours”.

Army chief Abdel Fatteh al-Burhan’s statement on assisting in the evacuations followed promises by rival Rapid Support Forces (FAR) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to open the airports for the evacuations.

“The evacuation process of all missions whose countries so request is expected to begin in the coming hours, as the United States, Great Britain, France and China will evacuate their diplomats and citizens by air with military transport planes belonging to to its Armed Forces from Khartoum. And that process is scheduled to start immediately,” Armed Forces spokesman Nabil Abdullah said in a statement.

He further clarified that Saudi Arabs and Jordanians were leaving by air via Port Sudan, 650 km (400 miles) from Khartoum.

Black smoke billows over Khartoum International Airport as fighting rages between the two rival generals.
Black smoke billows over Khartoum International Airport as fighting rages between the two rival generals. © AFP

Burhan said the army was providing safe routes but some airports, including those in Khartoum and Nyala, Darfur’s largest city, remained problematic.

For his part, the head of the FAR, Hemedti, expressed on Facebook, early on Saturday, that he had received a phone call from the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in which “they emphasized the need to adhere to a high full fire and provide protection for humanitarian and medical workers.

For this reason, the FAR declared itself willing to partially open all airports to allow evacuations. However, Khartoum International Airport has been caught up in the fighting and the status of and control over the other airports is unclear.

Residents of Omdurman and Bahri, Khartoum’s twin cities, said fighting intensified late Saturday morning after a relative calm, with airstrikes near the state broadcaster and shootings in several areas.

On the other hand, live television images showed a huge cloud of black smoke, rising from the Khartoum airport and the sound of gunshots and artillery shells.

How widespread is the problem?

The World Health Organization reported Friday that 413 people had been killed and 3,551 injured since the fighting broke out. The fatalities include at least five humanitarian workers.

The Sudanese doctors’ union said early on Saturday that more than two-thirds of hospitals in conflict areas were out of service, with 32 of them forcibly evacuated by soldiers or caught in the fire. crossed.

Some of the remaining hospitals, lacking adequate water, staff and electricity, were only providing first aid. Meanwhile, on social media, people have posted urgent requests for medical assistance, transportation to hospital, and prescription drugs.

A UN humanitarian report revealed that looters had made off with at least 10 World Food Program vehicles and another 6 trucks of food, after raiding the agency’s offices and warehouses in Nyala, South Darfur.

And outside of Khartoum, reports of violence come from Darfur, a western desert region bordering Chad, which has suffered a war since 2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million, according to information from Reuters, and that continues after successive peace agreements.

In Omdurman, one of Khartoum’s sister cities, the Al Huda prison, the largest in Sudan, drew attention as the army accused the FAR on Friday of storming the prison, which the paramilitary force denied.

An exit that is not seen

Any lull in fighting on Saturday could hasten the desperate flight of many Khartoum residents, after spending days trapped in their homes or in local districts under shelling and with fighters roaming the streets.

Another complex front is that Sudan borders seven countries, including Africa’s volatile Sahel region, risking stoking regional tensions. Burhan stated that he had spoken with the military leader of eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, and also that he was in contact with the leaders of two other neighboring countries of Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia.

All this violence was sparked by disagreement over an internationally endorsed plan to form a new civilian government four years after the fall of autocrat Omar al-Bashir and two years after the military coup.

Burhan and Hemedti held the top two posts on the governing council overseeing the political transition after the 2021 coup, which was to include a move to civilian rule and a merger of the FAR with the army.

Both forces were behind the joint coup that overthrew Sudan’s transitional government in October 2021.

For now there are no signs of a quick victory or willingness to back down or talk anywhere. While the army has air power, the FAR is widely deployed in urban areas, including around key installations in downtown Khartoum.

However, Burhan declared on Saturday that “we all have to sit down like Sudanese and find the right way out to bring back hope and life.” This has been the most conciliatory comment since the fighting began.

On the sidelines, heInternational efforts to quell the violence have focused on the ceasefire, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called on them to respect the truce.


With EFE and Reuters



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