Joe Biden announced on Saturday that the withdrawal of staff from the US Embassy in Sudan is complete. France continued to announce a “rapid evacuation operation”.
US President Joe Biden announced on Saturday that the evacuation of US embassy staff in Sudan is complete. Meanwhile, the French foreign ministry said a “rapid evacuation operation” had begun this Sunday and that European citizens and “allied partner countries” would also be supported, but gave no further details.
For its part, the Turkish embassy in Sudan said the process of evacuating its citizens would begin this Sunday, considering the chaotic situation currently being experienced in the capital Khartoum and the resumption of clashes.
“I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our diplomatic team, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism, demonstrating America’s friendship and bond with the people of Sudan,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “I am grateful for the unparalleled ability of our military to successfully bring them to safety.”
Plans to withdraw began Monday after US embassy vehicles were attacked in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. More than 100 U.S. special operations troops participated in the rescue of less than 100 people in three helicopters. The officials were taken to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia, two officials told the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Washington closed diplomatic missions indefinitely. In the statement, Biden thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia for being “fundamental to the success” of the operation.
Joe Biden called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned the violence in the country.
Clashes began a week ago between the country’s de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF, for short) paramilitary forces after a coup in October 2021. . in English), led by General Mohammed Hamdan Tagalo, known as “Hemeti”.
Khartoum’s airport is non-functional and landing routes out of the country from the capital are long and dangerous, even without current hostilities, posing additional difficulties and security risks.
According to the most recent count by the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 413 civilians have died and 3,551 have been injured in Sudan since the conflict began.