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regular-article-logo Monday, 23 December 2024

US evacuates citizens from Sudan amid ongoing conflict

France is carrying out evacuation of its citizens including diplomatic personnel from Sudan, the Foreign Ministry announced

Deutsche Welle Published 23.04.23, 08:53 AM
Several countries are moving to evacuate their citizens from Khartoum

Several countries are moving to evacuate their citizens from Khartoum Deutsche Welle

US troops evacuated US Embassy personnel from Sudan on Sunday, more than a week after fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary.

"Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US Government personnel from Khartoum," President Joe Biden said.

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He thanked authorities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance in the evacuation mission.

Earlier, the RSF claimed it had "coordinated with the US Forces Mission consisting of six aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning."

The operation evacuated fewer than 100 people, US officials told reporters.

About 100 US troops in three MH-47 helicopters carried out the operation.

Meanwhile France and Netherlands have started evacuating its citizens, according to their foreign ministries.

Netherlands joins evacuation operation

The Netherlands has joined other countries in evacuating its citizens from Sudan, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Sunday. "An operation by several countries to evacuate citizens from Sudan is ongoing. The Netherlands is participating with a team from Jordan. They will do all they can to get Dutch people out of there as quickly and safely as possible," he said in a post on Twitter.

France begins evacuating citizens

France is carrying out evacuation of its citizens including diplomatic personnel from Sudan, the Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.

The ministry has begun the "rapid evacuation operation" and that European citizens and those from allied countries would also be assisted, it said.

AFP reported that the Sudan armed forces and their rival Rapid Support Forces had "given guarantees of securities" to allow the operation, citing a diplomatic source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

US Embassy operations suspended

The fighting in Sudan "posed an unacceptable risk to our embassy personnel," said US State Secretary Antony Blinken.

Biden confirmed that the evacuation of diplomatic staff meant US Embassy in Khartoum would suspend operations.

"But our commitment to the Sudanese people and the future they want for themselves is unending," he added.

Around 16,000 US citizens were registered with the embassy, but officials said this number is likely inaccurate as US citizens are not required to register their presence in the country, nor are they required to notify the embassy if they leave.

"This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians," Biden said. "It's unconscionable and it must stop."

Other governments evacuating citizens

The US evacuation comes after Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had evacuated 91 Saudi citizens from Port Sudan to Jeddah, along with 66 nationals from several other "friendly and brotherly countries."

Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said China, France and the United Kingdom are also set to evacuate their citizens on Sunday.

Spain has deployed several aircraft to the nearby country of Djibouti to facilitate evacuations and Jordan also said it was preparing an evacuation mission with Gulf states.

Fighting broke out in Sudan more than a week ago between the north-eastern African country's two most powerful generals and their respective military units.

At least 413 people have been killed and more than 3,500 have been injured since the fighting began, according to the World Health Organization.

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