In the midst of the conflict, US soldiers evacuate their country’s embassy in Sudan

U.S. soldiers carried out a precarious evacuation of embassy staff of that country in Sudan, closing US offices in that African nation during the ninth consecutive day of fighting between forces loyal to two high-ranking generals.

This was announced this Saturday by the US president, Joe Biden, through a statement released by the White House. There it was also explained that Ethiopia, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia were “decisive” for this successful exit.

“We temporarily suspend the operations of the US embassy in Sudan, but our commitment to Sudanese people and the future they want is infinite,” Biden added in that statement, where he said he was “proud” of the work done by Staff US at the diplomatic legation.

The US president stressed that he was informed of the work being done to help the Americans in Sudan “as much as possible”. “They were also working closely with our allies and partners in this effort,” he said.

“This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It is inconceivable and it must stop. The warring parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access and respect the will of the Sudanese people,” he said.

On the same Saturday, the US embassy in Khartoum reported that due to the insecurity situation in Khartoum and the closure of the international airport, it was not safe to carry out an evacuation, despite the fact that the Sudanese military had said shortly before that the American country would have proceeded with the repatriation within “hours”.

The evacuation order is believed to apply to about 70 Americans. US forces were airlifting them from a landing zone at the embassy to an undisclosed location.

The State Department has suspended operations at the embassy due to the dire security situation and It is not known when it will be able to resume operation..

For its part, the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (FAR) has expressed itself in the same direction by announcing that lent his cooperation to carry out the evacuation.

“Rapid Support Forces Command coordinated with the US Forces missionconsisting of six planes, to evacuate the diplomats and their families on Sunday morning,” the group, which engaged the Sudanese military in a deadly conflict in the past week, said on Twitter.

The FAR have also ensured “full collaboration with all diplomatic representations to provide them with all the necessary means of protection” for the evacuation of their personnel.

The first major civilian evacuation operation since fighting began in Sudan was announced by Saturday Saudi Arabia, which repatriated 91 citizens and 66 people from other countries.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have moved troops to neighboring countries and the European Union intends to do the same to evacuate its diplomats and citizens in Sudan.

Who fights?

Violence erupted on April 15 between the army of General Abdel Fatah al-Burhane, de facto governor of Sudan since the 2021 coup, and his rival, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, which emerged from the notorious Janjaweed of Darfur militia. Both seek to gain control of Sudan.

This happens two years after jointly carrying out a military coup and derail a transition to democracy that began after protesters in 2019 helped force the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir. In recent months, negotiations had begun to resume the democratic transition.

It is likely that the winner of the last clashes is the next president of Sudan and that the loser faces exile, imprisonment or death. A protracted civil war or the division of the Arab and African country into rival fiefdoms is also possible.

Sudan is Africa’s third largest country by area and stretches along the Nile River, sharing its waters with two heavyweights in the region, Egypt and Ethiopia.

With information from AFP, EFE and AP.

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