Thibaud Hue, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: ABUBAKARR JALLOH / AFP
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7:36 p.m., April 23, 2023
France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries began on Sunday to evacuate their nationals or their diplomatic personnel from Sudan, where deadly fighting between the army and paramilitaries has been raging for more than a year. week. According to video images collected by AFP, convoys of dozens of white UN vehicles left Khartoum on Sunday, as did many buses, and headed for Port-Sudan, in the east of the country. It was not immediately possible to know who was on board. Gunfire and explosions shook the capital and its suburbs again on Sunday, overflown by fighter planes, according to witnesses.
Pope Francis called for “dialogue” in the face of the “serious” situation in the country, where, since April 15, the two generals in power since their 2021 putsch have embarked on a merciless war. The violence, mainly in Khartoum and Darfur, in the west, left more than 420 dead and 3,700 injured according to the World Health Organization (WHO). They have displaced tens of thousands of people to other states in Sudan, or to Chad and Egypt, while several countries are mobilizing to evacuate their nationals.
Two French planes
According to information from the Quai d’Orsay, which Europe 1 has obtained, a first French plane took off with a hundred people on board and should land at 6 p.m. in Djibouti. A second is “already in the area and should take off at 5:30 p.m.”, each with around a hundred people on board, French diplomatic sources told AFP. That will be all for this Sunday, the evacuations are already suspended for the night time and will resume Monday morning.
A large-scale and extremely complex operation, explains General Jean-Paul Paloméros, former supreme commander of NATO. For him, it is very difficult to control the fighters who are on the ground. “There are these two parties facing each other, who really use military forces, including the air force. So even the airport is at risk”, he warns at the microphone of Europe 1. The general specifies that the goal is to make nationals take the slightest risk. “We have professional forces, fortunately, very seasoned in this kind of situation”, reassures Jean-Paul Paloméros. For the moment, evacuation by plane is preferred. Emmanuel Macron has spoken with Djiboutian and Ethiopian leaders to facilitate the entry of aircraft into their airspace. But several land exit options by road have also been studied, knowing that the nationals to be taken care of are very numerous.
A French convoy targeted?
In addition, a convoy of French would have been heckled. The information that takes note of this situation comes from the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), these anti-government militias. According to a statement, the French evacuation convoy was endangered by airstrikes in Omdurman, in the northern suburbs of Khartoum, the capital. A French national was reportedly injured and the convoy had to turn back. Information subject to change. Contacted by Europe 1, the Quai d’Orsay does not wish to comment or confirm it.