Fire despite breaking the fast
Evacuation from Sudan not yet possible
4/22/2023 5:34 am
The fighting in Sudan has lasted almost a week, and hopes of a ceasefire at the end of Ramadan have been dashed. German citizens are also still in the country. The Bundeswehr is preparing a new attempt for their evacuation.
Even a week after fighting broke out between rival military blocs in Sudan, there is no solution to the conflict in sight. Despite the celebrations marking the end of Ramadan, the parties to the conflict did not rest their arms on Friday either. Both sides had protested that they wanted to respect a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Germany and other countries were discussing evacuation options for the citizens of their countries. According to media reports, two Spanish planes are to evacuate Europeans and Latin Americans from the crisis country.
Since last Saturday, the country’s army has been fighting for power against the once-allied paramilitary unit Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 413 people have lost their lives and more than 3,500 have been injured since the fighting began. Eyewitnesses also reported explosions and shots in the capital Khartoum on Twitter on Friday evening.
In Sudan, which has been politically unstable for years in north-east Africa, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the supreme commander of the army, is fighting with his troops against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and his units for supremacy. The two men have led the gold and oil-rich country of around 46 million people since a joint military coup in 2019 and another in 2021.
Khartoum airport contested
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr is making preparations for a new attempt to evacuate German citizens, as the Ministry of Defense confirmed without giving details. On Wednesday, an attempt at a diplomatic evacuation using Luftwaffe aircraft, but without any major deployment of soldiers, was aborted.
The airport in the capital has been at the center of hostilities since the beginning of the conflict. Diplomats are scrambling for a resilient ceasefire for the evacuation. Spain apparently sent two Air Force transport planes to Africa to evacuate its citizens and some other Europeans and Latin Americans. One of the two A400M military transporters has already landed in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, state TV broadcaster RTVE and other Spanish media report. A third machine of the same type is ready in Spain. Each of the military aircraft can transport more than 100 people. There was initially no official confirmation. Djibouti is about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Khartoum.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the US Ramstein Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate that, given the ongoing unclear security situation, no decision had yet been made about a possible evacuation of US diplomats. Armed forces have been deployed to the region to ensure the US has “as many options as possible” if ordered. The Pentagon continues to monitor the situation very closely and is coordinating with the US State Department. Despite the devastating situation in the country, the UN Special Envoy in Sudan, Volker Perthes, encouraged the Sudanese to celebrate the Islamic fast-breaking festival. Perthes said he hopes the country will overcome the crisis. The diplomat has headed a UN mission since 2021 to support Sudan in the political transition to democracy.